Built is the past tense and past participle of build.
2. adjective [adverb ADJECTIVE]
If you say that someone is built in a particular way, you are describing the kind of body they have.
All the Trollope boys were heavily built and quite tall.
...a strong, powerfully-built man of 60.
He was a huge man, built like an oak tree.
3. See also well-built
built in British English
(bɪlt)
verb
1. the past tense and past participle of build
adjective
2. informal
having large, powerful muscles
built in American English
(bɪlt)
verb transitive, verb intransitive
1. pt. & pp. of
build
adjective
2. Informal
having a well-formed, physically attractive body
said usually of a woman
More idioms containing
built
Rome was not built in a day
be built on sand
someone or something is built like a tank
Examples of 'built' in a sentence
built
They arrived at the strange palace built in the middle of the last century by another English eccentric.
Robert Wilson THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS (2002)
I was weak from the insufferable heat which had built through the day.
Robert Wilson A DARKENING STAIN (2002)
My first orphanage was built in the middle of the nineteenth century.
Mark Burnell CHAMELEON (2002)
Like the rest of the town, the hospital had been built during the town's upswing in the 1930s.
Karin Slaughter BLINDSIGHTED (2002)
All related terms of 'built'
build
If you build something, you make it by joining things together .
custom-build
to make according to the specifications of an individual buyer
self-build
the practice of building one's own home
self-built
the practice of building one's own home
upbuild
to build up; enlarge , increase , etc
built-in
Built-in devices or features are included in something as a part of it, rather than being separate.
built-up
A built-up area is an area such as a town or city which has a lot of buildings in it.
in-built
built-in ; integral
brick-built
made of bricks
built cane
bamboo split into strips of triangular section, tapered , and glued to form a stiff but flexible hexagonal rod: used, esp formerly, for making fishing rods
coach-built
(of a vehicle) having specially built bodywork
home-built
built at home
jerry-built
If you describe houses or blocks of flats as jerry-built , you are critical of the fact that they have been built very quickly and cheaply, without much care for safety or quality.
well-built
A well-built person, especially a man, has quite a big body and quite large muscles .
carvel-built
(of a vessel) having a hull with planks made flush at the seams
clinker-built
(of a boat or ship) having a hull constructed with each plank overlapping that below
custom-built
If something is custom-built , it is built according to someone's special requirements .
heavily built
with a big heavy body
purpose-built
A purpose-built building has been specially designed and built for a particular use.
square-built
sturdy and strong-looking
built environment
→ the built environment
built-up area
An area is a particular part of a town, a country, a region, or the world.
powerfully built
(of a person, esp a man) big and physically strong, with large muscles
build in
to incorporate or construct as an integral part
build up
If you build up something or if it builds up , it gradually becomes bigger , for example because more is added to it.
be built on sand
to not have a strong or a proper basis , and therefore to be likely to fail or come to an end
built-in storage
If you refer to the storage of something, you mean that it is kept in a special place until it is needed .
build into
to make (something) a definite part of (a contract , agreement, etc)
built-in obsolescence
the policy of deliberately limiting the life of a product in order to encourage the purchaser to replace it
the built environment
the buildings and all other things constructed by human beings
jerry-build
to build (houses, flats , etc) badly using cheap materials
build up to
If you build up to something you want to do or say , you try to prepare people for it by starting to do it or introducing the subject gradually.
built like a brick shithouse
having a large and powerful physique
Rome was not built in a day
said to mean that it takes a long time to do a job or task properly, and you should not rush it or expect to do it quickly
someone or something is built like a tank
said to mean that someone is very big and strong, or that something has been made very well and very solidly, and will last for a long time
system building
a method of building in which prefabricated components are used to speed the construction of buildings