building blockn.
/ˈbɪldɪŋ blɒk/, U.S. /ˈbɪldɪŋ ˌblɑk/ 1.
a. A brick-shaped, often hollow unit of stone, concrete, or other building materials used in the construction of a building or other structure.
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1792 Act 32 George III c. 35 §57 in Statutes at Large, Ireland (1796) XVI. 356 It shall and may be lawful to and for the said corporation..to make use of, and apply any lime-stones, building-blocks, or stones, or sand, which may be so laid or placed, or suffered to remain on the said quays.
1856 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 19 418/2 A great variety of building blocks for various uses may thus be made in asphalte or asphaltic composition.
c1957 Story of Slag (Brit. Slag Federation) 21 Foamed slag building blocks used in construction of houses at Gateshead and Middlesbrough.
2016 A. Aksamija Integrating Innovation in Archit. iii. 163 The building blocks..do not require conventional bonding.
b. A wooden or (in later use) plastic toy brick. Cf. block n.1 3c.
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society > leisure > entertainment > toy or plaything > other toys > [noun] > toy bricks
brick1829
toy block1859
1833 Boston Daily Atlas 16 Jan. (advt.) New Fancy Goods... Dissected Maps; Plays; Public Buildings; Building Blocks for small children: new and fashionable Game of London, &c.
1915 J. Webster Dear Enemy (1917) 152 Punch was occupying a rug..engaged with building-blocks.
2015 Financial Times 8 Sept. 15/2 Give a girl..building blocks and she will become master of her own universe, a creator and destroyer of fleetingly magnificent worlds.
c. figurative. A basic unit from which something is formed or constructed. Hence also: a foundational or central element within a larger group, system, etc. Cf. brick n.1 5.
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the world > existence and causation > causation > basis or foundation > [noun] > basis or fundamental principle
principlea1398
basec1500
principium1550
primordial1610
basisa1616
element1655
radical1656
principe1669
seminiuma1676
ultimate1710
rock beda1853
ultimatum1858
rock-bottom1866
ultimity1898
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > [noun] > constituent part or component > basic
building block1894
1894 National Stockman & Farmer (U.S.) 9 Aug. 400/3 ‘Was that a building-block for the Master?’ Yes. Anything we do to elevate mankind..is building the structure which will last throughout all eternity.
1937 Life 13 Sept. 69/3 Hence the cell nucleus which contains the chromosomes is the building block of Dr. Morgan's theory of heredity.
1962 F. I. Ordway et al. Basic Astronautics iv. 153 Some hope to learn from gravitational research more about the microstructure of the building blocks of nature, the subatomic particle.
1990 Sci. Amer. Apr. 57/2 The surrounding solution must also contain nucleotide triphosphate molecules as building blocks.
2006 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 112 914 The main building blocks of democracy—the rule of law and the bridling of power by constitutions.
2022 States News Service (Nexis) 11 Feb. Gender equality..will be one of the building blocks of a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable world.
2. One of the temporary supports for the keel of a ship or other sea vessel while it is being built.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > slip on which ships built or repaired > framework on which vessel rests > blocks or planks supporting
shorec1440
ground-ways1711
shole1711
ribband1779
block1850
breast shore1851
cleat1856
trussc1860
bilge-block1862
1823 Reg. Arts & Sci. 1 Nov. 18 The moulds are then set up on the building blocks,..much the same as the vessels on the old plan appear when in frame timbers.
1907 Power Boating Dec. 17/2 Lay the timber you have chosen for the building block, across two horses, about 2 feet above the ground.
2011 R. A. Bawal Superships of Great Lakes 23 This ship was launched when water was allowed into the dry dock's chamber, which in turn lifted the thousand-foot vessel up from her building blocks.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
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n.1792