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Brick

//bɹɪk// adj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
Extremely cold. New-York, colloquial, not-comparable
"And while the tropics are definitely the place to be when it's brick outside, rocking a snorkel on the beach only works when you're snorkeling."

Proper Noun

1
A surname.

Noun

1
A hardened rectangular block of mud, clay etc., used for building. countable
"This wall is made of bricks."
2
rectangular block of clay baked by the sun or in a kiln; used as a building or paving material wordnet
3
Such hardened mud, clay, etc. considered collectively, as a building material. uncountable
"This house is made of brick."
4
a good fellow; helpful and trustworthy wordnet
5
Something shaped like a brick. countable
"a plastic explosive brick"

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6
The colour brick red. countable, uncountable
"The handyman considered the question and I knew she had a brick of ground beans in her bag but was considering whether the beds and a hot drink was worth a brick of coffee."
7
A helpful and reliable person. countable, dated, slang, uncountable
"Thanks for helping me wash the car. You’re a brick."
8
A shot which misses, particularly one which bounces directly out of the basket because of a too-flat trajectory, as if the ball were a heavier object. countable, slang, uncountable
"We can't win if we keep throwing up bricks from three-point land."
9
A power brick; an external power supply consisting of a small box with an integral male plug and an attached cord terminating in another plug. countable, informal, uncountable
10
An electronic device, especially a heavy box-shaped one, that has become non-functional or obsolete. countable, figuratively, slang, uncountable
11
A projectile. UK, countable, slang, uncountable
"I was on deck watching the firing, and looking at the direction in which our guns were pointing, it was obvious that it was not going to be Centurion who was going to receive our bricks."
12
A carton of 500 rimfire cartridges, which forms the approximate size and shape of a brick. countable, uncountable
13
A community card (usually the turn or the river) which does not improve a player's hand. countable, slang, uncountable
"The two of clubs was a complete brick on the river."
14
A kilogram of cocaine. countable, slang, uncountable
"I can sell bricks, I don't need to rap / Buj so peng it makes the fiends collapse / Cook that coca into crack / I was selling Zs while you was in your bed"
15
A trans woman who does not pass. countable, derogatory, offensive, uncountable
"Was she like you—a brick, never passed, never gonna?"
16
A reel or short video. countable, slang, uncountable
"I built up this feed brick by brick."

Verb

1
To build, line, or form with bricks. transitive
"to be bricked alive (as a form of capital punishment)"
2
To stop working (of an electronic device) wordnet
3
To make into bricks. transitive
"The plant, which is here described, for bricking fine ores and flue dust, was designed and the plans produced in the engineering department of the Selby smelter."
4
To hit someone or something with a brick. slang, transitive
5
To make (an electronic device) non-functional and usually beyond repair, as a result of software or configuration issues. slang, transitive
"My VCR was bricked during the lightning storm."

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6
Of an electronic device, to become non-functional, especially in a way beyond repair, as a result of software or configuration issues. intransitive, slang
"My phone bricked halfway through the videoconference."
7
To blunder; to screw up. intransitive, slang

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Late Middle English brik, bryke, bricke, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch bricke ("cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch brik), ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *brekan (“to break”), whence also Old French briche and French brique (“brick”). Compare also German Low German Brickje (“small board, tray”). Related to break. The social media slang sense derives from memes about building up one's feed “brick by brick”, analogizing bricks with reels that inform the algorithm.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Etymology 4

* As an English surname, from the noun bridge. This aligns more closely with the pronunciation of its ancestors, Middle English brigge, Old English brycg. * As a Polish surname, from Brych, which has the same pronunciation.

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