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Antonyms for build


Grammar : Noun, verb
Spell : bild
Phonetic Transcription : bɪld



Definition of build

Origin :
  • late Old English byldan "construct a house," verb form of bold "house," from Proto-Germanic *buthlam (cf. Old Saxon bodl, Old Frisian bodel "building, house"), from PIE *bhu- "to dwell," from root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow" (see be). Rare in Old English; in Middle English it won out over more common Old English timbran (see timber). Modern spelling is unexplained. Figurative use from mid-15c. Of physical things other than buildings from late 16c. Related: Builded (archaic); built; building.
  • In the United States, this verb is used with much more latitude than in England. There, as Fennimore Cooper puts it, everything is BUILT. The priest BUILDS up a flock; the speculator a fortune; the lawyer a reputation; the landlord a town; and the tailor, as in England, BUILDS up a suit of clothes. A fire is BUILT instead of made, and the expression is even extended to individuals, to be BUILT being used with the meaning of formed. [Farmer, "Slang and Its Analogues," 1890]
  • noun physical structure, form
  • verb construct structure
  • verb initiate, found
  • verb increase, accelerate
Example sentences :
  • She's one of the build that aren't so big as they look, nor yet so small as they look.
  • Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
  • You pull down, you despoil; but they build up, they restore.
  • Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle
  • Lines 44 and 45 announce Marduk's determination to build Babylon.
  • Extract from : « The Babylonian Legends of the Creation » by British Museum
  • Anything upon which men can build themselves into moral strength?
  • Extract from : « Understanding the Scriptures » by Francis McConnell
  • The man whom you praise wrested it from me to build this church.
  • Extract from : « Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II » by Charlotte Mary Yonge
  • Fragments of knowledge came to him, but nothing on which to build a theory of what was wrong.
  • Extract from : « The Leopard Woman » by Stewart Edward White
  • There's that in his heart which can tear and rend; and there's that which can build.
  • Extract from : « Dust » by Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
  • But, before setting out, they all helped Phoenix to build a habitation.
  • Extract from : « Tanglewood Tales » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • When he's got that, no matter what else he lacks, you've got something to build on.
  • Extract from : « The Underdog » by F. Hopkinson Smith
  • Go to Argus, the shipbuilder, and bid him build a galley with fifty oars.
  • Extract from : « Tanglewood Tales » by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Synonyms for build

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019