brick and mortar

== English == === Alternative forms === brick-and-mortar bricks and mortar, bricks-and-mortar === Adjective === brick and mortar (not comparable) (business) Buildings and property for the conduct of business, particularly in the sale of retail goods to the general public. (Used to contrast an Internet-based sales operation that lacks customer-oriented store fronts and a "traditional" one for which most capital investment might be in the building infrastructure.) [from mid-1990s] 2000, Judy Kong, in a report on the ICE Conference, "Non Traditional Clicks and Mortar Businesses: (Dinosaurs) Learn to Fly": E-commerce is not the kiss of death for big, traditional brick-and-mortar business. ==== Usage notes ==== Often used attributively, especially in the form brick-and-mortar. ==== Synonyms ==== physical traditional old-fashioned ==== Antonyms ==== online internet ==== Translations ==== === Noun === brick and mortar (uncountable) (UK) Buildings, especially domestic housing. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see brick,‎ and,‎ mortar.