Definition of brick in English:

brick

noun brɪk

1A small rectangular block typically made of fired or sun-dried clay, used in building.
砖，砖块
Example sentencesExamples
- Later, baked clay bricks were used for walling.
- Newer houses have walls made of adobe blocks or bricks, with roofs of corrugated zinc or cement.
- For brick, concrete and cinder block, only latex should be used.
- Mud and wattle or sun-dried bricks are used in house building in rural areas; well-off families may use concrete blocks.
- Ivy will not harm fired clay bricks, nor will it cause mortar to crumble unless the mortar is already unsound.
- In Guinea, most new small buildings are made of badly fired bricks, and have corrugated metal roofs.
- This restraining edge is necessary because mortarless bricks tend to shift at the edges.
- It was the only building with glaringly bright light shining though the spaces between the bricks of the building.
- Brick saws can be used to cut bricks, pavers, stones, large quarry tiles and other masonry.
- The production cost was higher than that of clay bricks.
- Use paving bricks or blocks around the edge to prevent the dog from injuring itself on the edge of the chicken wire.
- Common building materials are concrete blocks and bricks.
- Clay walls may be molded by hand or with wooden forms; it may be preformed into bricks and sun-dried.
- Most buildings are made of bricks and concrete, while others are made of adobe-style mud.
- We all need some knowledge of the bricks before we start building.
- Cracked mortar between bricks should also be repointed by carefully removing and replacing any unsound mortar.
- Missing parts were not imitated but added in a modern way, often using the rubble bricks of destroyed buildings.
- He mixed the sand with clay to form bricks, which were then heated to high temperatures.
- It looked as if it had been dug and then lined with bricks of clay.
- Thick smooth bricks suggested a building of some sort.
1. 1.1mass noun Bricks collectively as a building material.
  总称砖
  this mill was built of brick
  这个磨坊是用砖建造的。
  as modifier a large brick building
  一幢高大的砖楼。
  Example sentencesExamples
  Other massive materials, such as brick and stone, also store the sun's heat and add mass to a building's interior.
  The Doyle Hall was a modern five-story brick building, with balconies.
  In the town square, autumn sun softens the old stone and brick buildings.
  It sat as an empty shell from 1965 to 1978, a vacant, desolate, boarded up old brick building.
  A small fire rose in the brick fire place, growing stronger and hotter.
  Wall materials such as stucco, cement, brick, plaster, stone, and block are most resistant to high temperatures.
  Woodlawn is brick, a building material rarely used in early nineteenth-century Maine where lumber was so plentiful.
  It was a building of stone and brick with no tell-tale signs of any real life, however, inside there was.
  As growth continued, substantial brick and stone buildings replaced frontier tents and shanties.
  First, be sure to take into account the fixed colors of your home - brick, stone work and the roof color.
  The apartments are laid out in two three-storey buildings with rustic brick elevations and mansard type roofs.
  Present-day government buildings are often old brick edifices left over from the Soviet period.
  While it dates back to 1879, there's no quaint Main Street lined with old brick buildings.
  Storage of solar heat occurs in a dense mass materials like concrete, brick and water.
  It was a nice road with old brick and stone buildings with cobblestone roads and sidewalks.
  Preferred materials are stone and adobe brick fortified by heavy timbers.
  The primary building material was large adobe brick, and huge pyramids towered above the city.
  It is one of the few remaining brick and stucco depot buildings remaining in south Alabama.
  They were walking toward a short small building made of a type of brick looking material.
  It is fitted with a brick fireplace with gas fire inset and has views over the side gardens.
2. 1.2 A small rectangular object.
  砖形物
  a brick of ice cream
  冰砖。
  Example sentencesExamples
  After the 90 minutes, place a brick of dough between two sheets of wax paper.
  He snapped the cylinder into his curved brick of a weapon, stepped back and let the fireworks chatter.
  He brings her a mug of coffee with a brick of imported truffle chocolate floating in the middle.
  Get a brick of white, scent-free glycerin soap from the craft store.
  None of us came from the womb clutching a bottle of Cab and a big brick of English cheddar.
  I sigh and walk back to the benches, where Steven had laid down his brick of a book.
  Rather, a brick of five or seven cartridges are collectively shrink-wrapped together.
  Think of a beautiful counter with nothing to chop on it, except a brick of ice.
  A shipment of coffee mugs should include a single-pot brick of coffee.
  Sure, he was cool when he sported that brick of a cell phone while strolling on the beach.
  Meat loaf, once a loathed, dry brick of protein, now enjoys more respect, if only for its retro-cool quotient.
  I attempted to respond, but it was if I was encased in a brick of glass.
  I went to the open wall-safe and liberated its contents: to wit, several stout bricks of high-denomination Pound notes.
  The tuna in question is a brick of sushi-grade bluefin toro, seared on one side only.
  I was enjoying the moment of drowsy bliss before reality hit me like a brick of lead.
  But is there a cure to melt the whole of this brick of ice within me?
  How many people would feel worse off if someone threw a brick of gold through their front window?
  She remembered selling him a brick of hash out of the broken down toilet stall.
  After six quick moves with the knife, he is left with a brick of potato.
  The large golden bricks were more than twice her size and she looked up at them and smiled.
  Synonyms
  block, cube, slab, bar, cake
3. 1.3British A child's toy building block.
  〈英〉（儿童玩的）积木
  the bricks and other plastic toys then need to be fitted back into their appropriate containers
  Example sentencesExamples
  They're designed to fit together in a stack, just like the famous Danish plastic bricks.
  She had been carefully constructing a building using a selection of wooden bricks of various shapes.
  Thanks to his wooden toy bricks, he had mastered ‘the laws of practical stability in towers and arches’.
  We hadn't come 5,000 miles to a land of forests to spend our time pining for theme parks made out of little plastic bricks.
  He aimed to make plastic bricks, but in a jumbo size suitable for very young children.
2informal A large and relatively heavy mobile phone, typically an early model with limited functionality.
I had one of those Motorola bricks as my first cell phone
Example sentencesExamples
- The idea was born when mobile phones were bricks and Macs seemed to share the same product design as Fisher Price.
- I remember my Dad bringing home a big brick cell phone in the 80s.
- I don't see us returning to the giant brick of a phone like the earliest models.
- The classic brick phone had an LED screen and boasted 30 minutes of talk time with eight hours of standby.
- If I were PM, I'd make it illegal for any child under 16 to own more than a basic brick mobile phone.
- The first hand-held phones, affectionately known as "bricks", were still big and bulky, only made voice calls, and cost more than $4000.
- I have been longtime Moto user, way back to the huge white phone with the big black antennae, a real brick.
- It was a large brick with a massive battery issued by someone like Motorola.
- Apple takes you back to when a mobile phone was a brick, not the neat little gadgets they are now.
- His best phone was a massive old brick.
- You were lucky to have a flip phone, I had one of those Motorola bricks as my first cell phone.
- I've had a mobile phone for ten years. Not the same phone, obviously. My first one was a brick.
1. 2.1 A smartphone or other electronic device that has completely ceased to function.
  while updating the firmware the USB cable got disconnected and the phone is now a brick
  Example sentencesExamples
  I've been nervous about rooting because my friend turned his phone into a brick.
  If you can't recover your ID or re-set your password, it's a brick.
  I went to update my operating system last night and my phone is now a brick.
  My 2 month old Xperia ZR is now a brick.
  Cracked screens, broken casings and malfunctioning operating systems short-circuited by moisture damage or dust infiltration can cause massive headaches and turn an expensive device into a useless brick.
  The 4.0.1 update has turned my phone into a brick.
  I need to somehow upgrade my Android 2.2 to 2.3 or higher - not as easy as you think without turning your cell into a brick.
  My phone is a brick and I really just don't understand what I can't do to fix it.
  If that isn't working your Windows 8 phone is going to turn into a brick.
  The update downloaded and said to restart my phone. I did and now it's a brick.
3British dated, informal A generous, helpful, and reliable person.
〈英，非正式，旧〉慷慨可靠的人；乐于助人的人
‘You are really a brick, Vi,’ Gloria said
“你真是个大好人，维，"格洛丽亚说。
Example sentencesExamples
- He's a brick, a chip off the old block, a good 'un.
- Large, jolly and boisterous, Carol is regarded as something of a brick, and there are sound reasons for the affection she commands.
- She really is a brick.
- Mr. Hall is such a brick, that when we get back he is going to take us all in.
- James was a brick, he helped anyway he could and managed to get me the tablets and stuff I needed.

verb brɪk

[with object]

1Block or enclose with a wall of bricks.
用砖墙围起；用砖堵住
the doors have been bricked up
门都用砖墙封了起来。
Example sentencesExamples
- They have food, shelter, and facilities, yet all doors are locked, all windows bricked over and no way out.
- The building's windows and doors were bricked in, and there didn't seem to be any other way inside.
- But when the ramparts went up they bricked up all the stations underneath them.
- Well, look for a big brown bricked building with a huge campus.
- Those windows were bricked in because to do so was far cheaper than making the needed structural repairs.
- Clutching her handbag, she opens the car door swiftly and steps onto the red bricked driveway.
- I'm not quite ready to be bricked into a forgotten wine cellar together for eternity.
- What really happened in this house seven years ago, and why is part of the basement bricked up?
- The car pulled closer to a three story bricked building.
- Some of the doors were bolted shut, some were bricked up.
- We walked along with out a word, until we got to a red bricked apartment building.
- Before you can leave the gym, you have to go through a nicely bricked breezeway.
- A cup found bricked into the original kitchen hearth is both remnant and confirmation of an early custom.
- I arrived in the green bricked hall, and was quickly let in by the tall man at the booth.
- You'll find a maze of alcoves in a candle-lit cellar, bricked, arched and genuinely antique.
- Cops went running past, as the assassin walked into a small red bricked building.
- Some of the once grand buildings of the town are sadly bricked up, but they still retain their beauty.
- The walls were bricked but filled with sports pictures and the booths were all different colors.
- But because they're often paved, bricked, or tiled, they have a tendency to look cold and uninviting.
- The teasing smell didn't have an effect on the cold warrior as he ambled through the uneven grey, bricked street.
Synonyms
block, seal, close, brick up
2British informal Throw bricks at.
the pub was attacked and windows in the area were bricked
Example sentencesExamples
- The cheek of this man to accuse Barnsley fans of violence is breathtakingpresumably it was Barnsley fans who bricked their own team bus after the game at Anfield and not Liverpool fans?
- In Chapelfields last night, a vehicle was damaged as youths held a wire or rope in front of it, and in Danebury Drive, Acomb, a bus was bricked.
- This amazing building has just been erected, and then a few weeks later, some mindless yobs graffiti the walls and brick the windows.
- The robocops appeared from nowhere and got bricked and bottled but managed to block us in.
- She had just sped off on her bicycle after bricking a window.
- We then started bricking the coaches as they slowly went past, one after the other.
- The action threat follows an incident on Saturday night when a Stagecoach service was bricked as it travelled down Bowerham Road towards Lancaster city centre.
3informal Cause (a smartphone or other electronic device) to become completely unable to function, typically on a permanent basis.
installing an unofficial OS voids the warranty and may brick the phone
Example sentencesExamples
- We always recommend that your device has at least 80% battery charge before you begin to avoid the possibility of bricking your phone if it turns off during installation.
- I know the bootloader won't be unlocked anymore, but is there a possibility that I could brick my phone?
- The last time we did a major over-the-air update on a phone, it bricked a perfectly good Sony Ericsson.
- Not all ROMs work on all phones and you can definitely brick your phone by failing to flash a ROM correctly.
- This update can brick your phone.
- Many computers include recovery features in their BIOS that allow them to recover from an interrupted BIOS flash that would normally brick the device.
- I called customer service and their suggestions bricked the phone.
- Bby hacking your standard model, you run the chance of bricking your phone the next time it's updated, potentially voiding your warranty at the same time.
- Proceed at your own risk, and if you permanently brick your phone, we can't help you.
- Note that any interruption at this point - reboot, disconnection from PC or power off - will permanently brick the device.
4be bricking oneselfBritish vulgar slang Be extremely worried or nervous.
〈英，粗俚〉非常担心；极紧张

Phrases

bricks and mortar

1Buildings, typically housing.
建筑物（尤指住房）
untold acres are being buried under bricks and mortar
数不清的土地正被用来建造房屋。
Example sentencesExamples
- We have over 20 million customers, between software, Internet, and bricks and mortar.
- That means we will enjoy three times the profitability of traditional bricks and mortar grocers.
- Direct sales - which includes the bricks and mortar retail stores - was up 45 per cent for the quarter.
- These retailers do not carry an inventory and most of them do not have a bricks and mortar store.
- There would be no need to pay for the bricks and mortar and the other services provided by traditional colleges.
1. 1.1A house considered in terms of its value as an investment.
  房产
  a simple re-mortgage can release the value tied up in your bricks and mortar
  Example sentencesExamples
  People preferred to invest in bricks and mortar rather than in volatile equities.
  Most aim to help producers gain more clout in the marketplace without investing in bricks and mortar.
  But I took stock of what our real assets were, not just bricks and mortar, but what we had.
  Others said that in uncertain times for equity markets investors would still favour investing in bricks and mortar.
  We employ Inuit people and we've invested in bricks and mortar in Nunavut.
  Investment in bricks and mortar made by private companies is good.
2. 1.2as modifierUsed to denote a business that operates conventionally rather than (or as well as) over the Internet.
  （企业）按传统模式（而非通过因特网）运营的；既以传统模式又通过因特网经营的
  the bricks-and-mortar banks
  按传统模式运营的银行。
  Example sentencesExamples
  Business is business, no matter whether it's bricks-and-mortar or cyberspace-based.
  But other bricks-and-mortar businesses have found a home in cyberspace.
  Marketers have to be careful about comparing Internet shopping with bricks-and-mortar shopping, LaPointe warned.
  Highly digitized, the transaction process is conceptually similar for both the bricks-and-mortar and the virtual banks.
  Smart retailers are exploiting their Web savvy to bolster their bricks-and-mortar operations.

brick by brick

A little bit at a time.
he built IBM brick by brick from an agglomeration of small enterprises
Example sentencesExamples
- The solution is to undo the last 35 years, brick by brick.
- We think Leeds will recover step by step and brick by brick.
- Well, in presidential politics, candidates are starting to rake in important endorsements, one frontrunner seemingly building a campaign brick by brick.
- On 12 August, Ben Smith wrote a column in The Guardian in which he took the politician apart, brick by brick.
- We built this campaign brick by brick, making real contact with every school and nursery in the city.
- We're going to have to rebuild that confidence brick by brick.
- Propagandists exhorted the weary populace to rebuild the country, which they did, brick by brick, despite the harangues.
- They were the ones who were laying the foundations of the Party, brick by brick, and without their help no leader could accomplish anything.
- Brick by brick, we need to build a grass roots movement to retake America from the corporate warmongers now in power.
- People forget that the career that they built was brick by brick.

come up against (or hit) a brick wall

Face an insuperable problem or obstacle while trying to do something.
遇见不可克服的困难
at this age when you come up against a brick wall, you do sometimes feel like screaming with frustration
Example sentencesExamples
- Sadly, this approach seemingly hit a brick wall too.
- When you talk to your partner, it feels as though you're hitting a brick wall.
- But growth in the domestic cider market looks to have hit a brick wall.
- We stood up to the competition and delivered a good service, but we hit a brick wall.
- I'm hitting a brick wall in trying to choose a good school and getting the hands-on experience I need.
- Each time he tried to get in, it was as if he were hitting a brick wall.
- Will efforts to end the election crisis hit a brick wall?
- The dancer's biggest frustrations surface when she hits a brick wall with a choreographer and nothing seems to work.
- I have talked to many people, but I keep hitting a brick wall.
- How will you respond when the new market segment hits a brick wall?

like a ton of bricks

informal With crushing weight, force, or authority.
〈非正式〉来势凶猛地，势不可挡地
the FA came down on him like a ton of bricks
足球协会以咄咄逼人之势向他兴师问罪。
Example sentencesExamples
- Realization hit her like a ton of bricks and she staggered under the weight of it.
- Revelation hits like a ton of bricks - you could totally see it in his eyes.
- I desperately tried to remember what had happened last night and suddenly, it fell upon me like a ton of bricks.
- As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, the enormity of the situation fell around her like a ton of bricks.
- Realization hit Josh like a ton of bricks.
- Then my father's word hit me like a ton of bricks.
- The hustle and bustle of the birthday party hit him like a ton of bricks.
- When I first heard that, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
- When you learned that he had given an alleged confession, that must have hit like a ton of bricks.
- The words hit me like a ton of bricks, like a bomb.
Synonyms
sharply, roundly, soundly, fiercely, scathingly, savagely

London to a brick on

informal Used to indicate that something is certain or highly probable.
I will bet you London to a brick on that this goes nowhere
Example sentencesExamples
- I'll bet London to a brick he will return coaching.
- It was a good rally today but London to a brick on I will only get back half of what was lost yesterday.
- I bet London to a brick there will be something very unsavoury between her and the creepy father.
- You can bet London to a brick Harris will break down soon.
- We could have saved thousands of tax payer dollars as far as the surplus goes, but I bet you London to a brick it won't be achieved.
- It was London to a brick that Woods would take this Masters, but he never got really close.
- Ask people who have played both league and union and I'll bet London to a brick that the majority prefer to play union.
- Given the defensive posture, it's London to a brick that Rogers will go to 13.
- I'm prepared to bet London to a brick she won't win gold!
- I would lay London to a brick that that circumstance won't prevail much longer.

you can't make bricks without straw

proverb Nothing can be made or accomplished without proper or adequate material or information.
〈谚〉巧妇难为无米之炊
Example sentencesExamples
- You can't make bricks without straw and you can't portray a character just by making him up from within yourself.
- The law of value will still be there reminding us that, even under socialism, you can't make bricks without straw.
- For our enterprises, ‘One can't make bricks without straw’ is no longer a solid excuse.
- It's no good trying to build a website if you don't know any html, you can't make bricks without straw.

Origin

Late Middle English: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch bricke, brike; probably reinforced by Old French brique; of unknown ultimate origin.

English brick is found only from the middle of the 15th century. It was probably introduced by Flemish workmen, for it is a Low German word and Flemings were associated with early brick making. Use of the word was probably reinforced by Old French brique ‘a form of loaf’. Some French dialects still have the phrase brique de pain ‘piece of bread’. The ultimate origin is unknown.

Rhymes

artic, chick, click, crick, flick, hand-pick, hic, hick, kick, lick, mick, miskick, nick, pic, pick, quick, rick, shtick, sic, sick, slick, snick, stick, thick, tic, tick, trick, Vic, wick

brick¹

nounbrɪkbrik

1A small rectangular block typically made of fired or sun-dried clay, used in building.
砖，砖块
Example sentencesExamples
- Later, baked clay bricks were used for walling.
- We all need some knowledge of the bricks before we start building.
- This restraining edge is necessary because mortarless bricks tend to shift at the edges.
- Brick saws can be used to cut bricks, pavers, stones, large quarry tiles and other masonry.
- It was the only building with glaringly bright light shining though the spaces between the bricks of the building.
- Use paving bricks or blocks around the edge to prevent the dog from injuring itself on the edge of the chicken wire.
- Common building materials are concrete blocks and bricks.
- Newer houses have walls made of adobe blocks or bricks, with roofs of corrugated zinc or cement.
- For brick, concrete and cinder block, only latex should be used.
- Mud and wattle or sun-dried bricks are used in house building in rural areas; well-off families may use concrete blocks.
- Most buildings are made of bricks and concrete, while others are made of adobe-style mud.
- In Guinea, most new small buildings are made of badly fired bricks, and have corrugated metal roofs.
- The production cost was higher than that of clay bricks.
- Ivy will not harm fired clay bricks, nor will it cause mortar to crumble unless the mortar is already unsound.
- It looked as if it had been dug and then lined with bricks of clay.
- He mixed the sand with clay to form bricks, which were then heated to high temperatures.
- Cracked mortar between bricks should also be repointed by carefully removing and replacing any unsound mortar.
- Clay walls may be molded by hand or with wooden forms; it may be preformed into bricks and sun-dried.
- Thick smooth bricks suggested a building of some sort.
- Missing parts were not imitated but added in a modern way, often using the rubble bricks of destroyed buildings.
1. 1.1 Bricks collectively as a building material.
  总称砖
  this mill was built of brick
  这个磨坊是用砖建造的。
  as modifier a large brick building
  一幢高大的砖楼。
  Example sentencesExamples
  In the town square, autumn sun softens the old stone and brick buildings.
  They were walking toward a short small building made of a type of brick looking material.
  Preferred materials are stone and adobe brick fortified by heavy timbers.
  The apartments are laid out in two three-storey buildings with rustic brick elevations and mansard type roofs.
  Present-day government buildings are often old brick edifices left over from the Soviet period.
  Other massive materials, such as brick and stone, also store the sun's heat and add mass to a building's interior.
  Wall materials such as stucco, cement, brick, plaster, stone, and block are most resistant to high temperatures.
  The Doyle Hall was a modern five-story brick building, with balconies.
  Storage of solar heat occurs in a dense mass materials like concrete, brick and water.
  It sat as an empty shell from 1965 to 1978, a vacant, desolate, boarded up old brick building.
  It was a building of stone and brick with no tell-tale signs of any real life, however, inside there was.
  While it dates back to 1879, there's no quaint Main Street lined with old brick buildings.
  It is fitted with a brick fireplace with gas fire inset and has views over the side gardens.
  Woodlawn is brick, a building material rarely used in early nineteenth-century Maine where lumber was so plentiful.
  The primary building material was large adobe brick, and huge pyramids towered above the city.
  It is one of the few remaining brick and stucco depot buildings remaining in south Alabama.
  A small fire rose in the brick fire place, growing stronger and hotter.
  It was a nice road with old brick and stone buildings with cobblestone roads and sidewalks.
  First, be sure to take into account the fixed colors of your home - brick, stone work and the roof color.
  As growth continued, substantial brick and stone buildings replaced frontier tents and shanties.
2. 1.2 A small rectangular object.
  砖形物
  a brick of ice cream
  冰砖。
  Example sentencesExamples
  The large golden bricks were more than twice her size and she looked up at them and smiled.
  Think of a beautiful counter with nothing to chop on it, except a brick of ice.
  Sure, he was cool when he sported that brick of a cell phone while strolling on the beach.
  I attempted to respond, but it was if I was encased in a brick of glass.
  But is there a cure to melt the whole of this brick of ice within me?
  After the 90 minutes, place a brick of dough between two sheets of wax paper.
  He snapped the cylinder into his curved brick of a weapon, stepped back and let the fireworks chatter.
  I sigh and walk back to the benches, where Steven had laid down his brick of a book.
  Meat loaf, once a loathed, dry brick of protein, now enjoys more respect, if only for its retro-cool quotient.
  After six quick moves with the knife, he is left with a brick of potato.
  He brings her a mug of coffee with a brick of imported truffle chocolate floating in the middle.
  The tuna in question is a brick of sushi-grade bluefin toro, seared on one side only.
  Get a brick of white, scent-free glycerin soap from the craft store.
  I went to the open wall-safe and liberated its contents: to wit, several stout bricks of high-denomination Pound notes.
  She remembered selling him a brick of hash out of the broken down toilet stall.
  Rather, a brick of five or seven cartridges are collectively shrink-wrapped together.
  How many people would feel worse off if someone threw a brick of gold through their front window?
  None of us came from the womb clutching a bottle of Cab and a big brick of English cheddar.
  I was enjoying the moment of drowsy bliss before reality hit me like a brick of lead.
  A shipment of coffee mugs should include a single-pot brick of coffee.
  Synonyms
  block, cube, slab, bar, cake
2informal A large and relatively heavy mobile phone, typically an early model with limited functionality.
I had one of those Motorola bricks as my first cell phone
Example sentencesExamples
- I don't see us returning to the giant brick of a phone like the earliest models.
- The idea was born when mobile phones were bricks and Macs seemed to share the same product design as Fisher Price.
- I have been longtime Moto user, way back to the huge white phone with the big black antennae, a real brick.
- It was a large brick with a massive battery issued by someone like Motorola.
- The classic brick phone had an LED screen and boasted 30 minutes of talk time with eight hours of standby.
- Apple takes you back to when a mobile phone was a brick, not the neat little gadgets they are now.
- I remember my Dad bringing home a big brick cell phone in the 80s.
- His best phone was a massive old brick.
- The first hand-held phones, affectionately known as "bricks", were still big and bulky, only made voice calls, and cost more than $4000.
- I've had a mobile phone for ten years. Not the same phone, obviously. My first one was a brick.
- If I were PM, I'd make it illegal for any child under 16 to own more than a basic brick mobile phone.
- You were lucky to have a flip phone, I had one of those Motorola bricks as my first cell phone.
1. 2.1 A smartphone or other electronic device that has completely ceased to function.
  while updating the firmware the USB cable got disconnected and the phone is now a brick
  Example sentencesExamples
  If that isn't working your Windows 8 phone is going to turn into a brick.
  The 4.0.1 update has turned my phone into a brick.
  I need to somehow upgrade my Android 2.2 to 2.3 or higher - not as easy as you think without turning your cell into a brick.
  I went to update my operating system last night and my phone is now a brick.
  The update downloaded and said to restart my phone. I did and now it's a brick.
  I've been nervous about rooting because my friend turned his phone into a brick.
  If you can't recover your ID or re-set your password, it's a brick.
  Cracked screens, broken casings and malfunctioning operating systems short-circuited by moisture damage or dust infiltration can cause massive headaches and turn an expensive device into a useless brick.
  My 2 month old Xperia ZR is now a brick.
  My phone is a brick and I really just don't understand what I can't do to fix it.
3British dated, informal A generous, helpful, and reliable person.
〈英，非正式，旧〉慷慨可靠的人；乐于助人的人
Example sentencesExamples
- He's a brick, a chip off the old block, a good 'un.
- Large, jolly and boisterous, Carol is regarded as something of a brick, and there are sound reasons for the affection she commands.
- She really is a brick.
- Mr. Hall is such a brick, that when we get back he is going to take us all in.
- James was a brick, he helped anyway he could and managed to get me the tablets and stuff I needed.

verbbrɪkbrik

[with object]

1Block or enclose with a wall of bricks.
用砖墙围起；用砖堵住
the doors have been bricked up
门都用砖墙封了起来。
Example sentencesExamples
- A cup found bricked into the original kitchen hearth is both remnant and confirmation of an early custom.
- I arrived in the green bricked hall, and was quickly let in by the tall man at the booth.
- The teasing smell didn't have an effect on the cold warrior as he ambled through the uneven grey, bricked street.
- But because they're often paved, bricked, or tiled, they have a tendency to look cold and uninviting.
- Some of the once grand buildings of the town are sadly bricked up, but they still retain their beauty.
- But when the ramparts went up they bricked up all the stations underneath them.
- You'll find a maze of alcoves in a candle-lit cellar, bricked, arched and genuinely antique.
- Some of the doors were bolted shut, some were bricked up.
- The building's windows and doors were bricked in, and there didn't seem to be any other way inside.
- They have food, shelter, and facilities, yet all doors are locked, all windows bricked over and no way out.
- The walls were bricked but filled with sports pictures and the booths were all different colors.
- What really happened in this house seven years ago, and why is part of the basement bricked up?
- Before you can leave the gym, you have to go through a nicely bricked breezeway.
- The car pulled closer to a three story bricked building.
- Those windows were bricked in because to do so was far cheaper than making the needed structural repairs.
- Well, look for a big brown bricked building with a huge campus.
- We walked along with out a word, until we got to a red bricked apartment building.
- I'm not quite ready to be bricked into a forgotten wine cellar together for eternity.
- Clutching her handbag, she opens the car door swiftly and steps onto the red bricked driveway.
- Cops went running past, as the assassin walked into a small red bricked building.
Synonyms
block, seal, close, brick up
2informal Cause (a smartphone or other electronic device) to become completely unable to function, typically on a permanent basis.
installing an unofficial OS voids the warranty and may brick the phone
Example sentencesExamples
- Many computers include recovery features in their BIOS that allow them to recover from an interrupted BIOS flash that would normally brick the device.
- Note that any interruption at this point - reboot, disconnection from PC or power off - will permanently brick the device.
- Not all ROMs work on all phones and you can definitely brick your phone by failing to flash a ROM correctly.
- We always recommend that your device has at least 80% battery charge before you begin to avoid the possibility of bricking your phone if it turns off during installation.
- I know the bootloader won't be unlocked anymore, but is there a possibility that I could brick my phone?
- Proceed at your own risk, and if you permanently brick your phone, we can't help you.
- This update can brick your phone.
- The last time we did a major over-the-air update on a phone, it bricked a perfectly good Sony Ericsson.
- I called customer service and their suggestions bricked the phone.
- Bby hacking your standard model, you run the chance of bricking your phone the next time it's updated, potentially voiding your warranty at the same time.

Phrases

bricks and mortar

1Buildings.
David knows how inefficient it is to tie up your capital in bricks and mortar
Example sentencesExamples
- We have over 20 million customers, between software, Internet, and bricks and mortar.
- There would be no need to pay for the bricks and mortar and the other services provided by traditional colleges.
- These retailers do not carry an inventory and most of them do not have a bricks and mortar store.
- Direct sales - which includes the bricks and mortar retail stores - was up 45 per cent for the quarter.
- That means we will enjoy three times the profitability of traditional bricks and mortar grocers.
1. 1.1as modifierUsed to denote a business that operates conventionally rather than (or as well as) over the Internet.
  （企业）按传统模式（而非通过因特网）运营的；既以传统模式又通过因特网经营的
  the bricks-and-mortar banks
  按传统模式运营的银行。
  Compare with clicks and mortar
  Example sentencesExamples
  But other bricks-and-mortar businesses have found a home in cyberspace.
  Marketers have to be careful about comparing Internet shopping with bricks-and-mortar shopping, LaPointe warned.
  Highly digitized, the transaction process is conceptually similar for both the bricks-and-mortar and the virtual banks.
  Business is business, no matter whether it's bricks-and-mortar or cyberspace-based.
  Smart retailers are exploiting their Web savvy to bolster their bricks-and-mortar operations.

like a ton of bricks

informal With crushing weight, force, or authority.
〈非正式〉来势凶猛地，势不可挡地
all her years of marriage suddenly fell on her like a ton of bricks
Example sentencesExamples
- The hustle and bustle of the birthday party hit him like a ton of bricks.
- Realization hit Josh like a ton of bricks.
- The words hit me like a ton of bricks, like a bomb.
- I desperately tried to remember what had happened last night and suddenly, it fell upon me like a ton of bricks.
- As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, the enormity of the situation fell around her like a ton of bricks.
- Revelation hits like a ton of bricks - you could totally see it in his eyes.
- Realization hit her like a ton of bricks and she staggered under the weight of it.
- When I first heard that, it hit me like a ton of bricks.
- Then my father's word hit me like a ton of bricks.
- When you learned that he had given an alleged confession, that must have hit like a ton of bricks.
Synonyms
sharply, roundly, soundly, fiercely, scathingly, savagely

you can't make bricks without straw

proverb Nothing can be made or accomplished without proper or adequate material or information.
〈谚〉巧妇难为无米之炊
Example sentencesExamples
- It's no good trying to build a website if you don't know any html, you can't make bricks without straw.
- The law of value will still be there reminding us that, even under socialism, you can't make bricks without straw.
- You can't make bricks without straw and you can't portray a character just by making him up from within yourself.
- For our enterprises, ‘One can't make bricks without straw’ is no longer a solid excuse.

hit (or run into) a brick wall

Face an insuperable problem or obstacle while trying to do something.
遇见不可克服的困难
Example sentencesExamples
- I have talked to many people, but I keep hitting a brick wall.
- How will you respond when the new market segment hits a brick wall?
- But growth in the domestic cider market looks to have hit a brick wall.
- I'm hitting a brick wall in trying to choose a good school and getting the hands-on experience I need.
- We stood up to the competition and delivered a good service, but we hit a brick wall.
- Sadly, this approach seemingly hit a brick wall too.
- The dancer's biggest frustrations surface when she hits a brick wall with a choreographer and nothing seems to work.
- Each time he tried to get in, it was as if he were hitting a brick wall.
- When you talk to your partner, it feels as though you're hitting a brick wall.
- Will efforts to end the election crisis hit a brick wall?

shit a brick (or bricks)

vulgar slang Be extremely anxious or nervous.

Origin

Late Middle English: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch bricke, brike; probably reinforced by Old French brique; of unknown ultimate origin.

Brick²

proper nounbrɪkbrik

A township in southeastern New Jersey; population 78,419 (est. 2008).

词汇	brick
释义	Definition of brick in English: brick noun brɪk 1A small rectangular block typically made of fired or sun-dried clay, used in building. 砖，砖块 Example sentencesExamples Later, baked clay bricks were used for walling. Newer houses have walls made of adobe blocks or bricks, with roofs of corrugated zinc or cement. For brick, concrete and cinder block, only latex should be used. Mud and wattle or sun-dried bricks are used in house building in rural areas; well-off families may use concrete blocks. Ivy will not harm fired clay bricks, nor will it cause mortar to crumble unless the mortar is already unsound. In Guinea, most new small buildings are made of badly fired bricks, and have corrugated metal roofs. This restraining edge is necessary because mortarless bricks tend to shift at the edges. It was the only building with glaringly bright light shining though the spaces between the bricks of the building. Brick saws can be used to cut bricks, pavers, stones, large quarry tiles and other masonry. The production cost was higher than that of clay bricks. Use paving bricks or blocks around the edge to prevent the dog from injuring itself on the edge of the chicken wire. Common building materials are concrete blocks and bricks. Clay walls may be molded by hand or with wooden forms; it may be preformed into bricks and sun-dried. Most buildings are made of bricks and concrete, while others are made of adobe-style mud. We all need some knowledge of the bricks before we start building. Cracked mortar between bricks should also be repointed by carefully removing and replacing any unsound mortar. Missing parts were not imitated but added in a modern way, often using the rubble bricks of destroyed buildings. He mixed the sand with clay to form bricks, which were then heated to high temperatures. It looked as if it had been dug and then lined with bricks of clay. Thick smooth bricks suggested a building of some sort. 1.1mass noun Bricks collectively as a building material. 总称砖 this mill was built of brick 这个磨坊是用砖建造的。 as modifier a large brick building 一幢高大的砖楼。 Example sentencesExamples Other massive materials, such as brick and stone, also store the sun's heat and add mass to a building's interior. The Doyle Hall was a modern five-story brick building, with balconies. In the town square, autumn sun softens the old stone and brick buildings. It sat as an empty shell from 1965 to 1978, a vacant, desolate, boarded up old brick building. A small fire rose in the brick fire place, growing stronger and hotter. Wall materials such as stucco, cement, brick, plaster, stone, and block are most resistant to high temperatures. Woodlawn is brick, a building material rarely used in early nineteenth-century Maine where lumber was so plentiful. It was a building of stone and brick with no tell-tale signs of any real life, however, inside there was. As growth continued, substantial brick and stone buildings replaced frontier tents and shanties. First, be sure to take into account the fixed colors of your home - brick, stone work and the roof color. The apartments are laid out in two three-storey buildings with rustic brick elevations and mansard type roofs. Present-day government buildings are often old brick edifices left over from the Soviet period. While it dates back to 1879, there's no quaint Main Street lined with old brick buildings. Storage of solar heat occurs in a dense mass materials like concrete, brick and water. It was a nice road with old brick and stone buildings with cobblestone roads and sidewalks. Preferred materials are stone and adobe brick fortified by heavy timbers. The primary building material was large adobe brick, and huge pyramids towered above the city. It is one of the few remaining brick and stucco depot buildings remaining in south Alabama. They were walking toward a short small building made of a type of brick looking material. It is fitted with a brick fireplace with gas fire inset and has views over the side gardens. 1.2 A small rectangular object. 砖形物 a brick of ice cream 冰砖。 Example sentencesExamples After the 90 minutes, place a brick of dough between two sheets of wax paper. He snapped the cylinder into his curved brick of a weapon, stepped back and let the fireworks chatter. He brings her a mug of coffee with a brick of imported truffle chocolate floating in the middle. Get a brick of white, scent-free glycerin soap from the craft store. None of us came from the womb clutching a bottle of Cab and a big brick of English cheddar. I sigh and walk back to the benches, where Steven had laid down his brick of a book. Rather, a brick of five or seven cartridges are collectively shrink-wrapped together. Think of a beautiful counter with nothing to chop on it, except a brick of ice. A shipment of coffee mugs should include a single-pot brick of coffee. Sure, he was cool when he sported that brick of a cell phone while strolling on the beach. Meat loaf, once a loathed, dry brick of protein, now enjoys more respect, if only for its retro-cool quotient. I attempted to respond, but it was if I was encased in a brick of glass. I went to the open wall-safe and liberated its contents: to wit, several stout bricks of high-denomination Pound notes. The tuna in question is a brick of sushi-grade bluefin toro, seared on one side only. I was enjoying the moment of drowsy bliss before reality hit me like a brick of lead. But is there a cure to melt the whole of this brick of ice within me? How many people would feel worse off if someone threw a brick of gold through their front window? She remembered selling him a brick of hash out of the broken down toilet stall. After six quick moves with the knife, he is left with a brick of potato. The large golden bricks were more than twice her size and she looked up at them and smiled. Synonyms block, cube, slab, bar, cake 1.3British A child's toy building block. 〈英〉（儿童玩的）积木 the bricks and other plastic toys then need to be fitted back into their appropriate containers Example sentencesExamples They're designed to fit together in a stack, just like the famous Danish plastic bricks. She had been carefully constructing a building using a selection of wooden bricks of various shapes. Thanks to his wooden toy bricks, he had mastered ‘the laws of practical stability in towers and arches’. We hadn't come 5,000 miles to a land of forests to spend our time pining for theme parks made out of little plastic bricks. He aimed to make plastic bricks, but in a jumbo size suitable for very young children. 2informal A large and relatively heavy mobile phone, typically an early model with limited functionality. I had one of those Motorola bricks as my first cell phone Example sentencesExamples The idea was born when mobile phones were bricks and Macs seemed to share the same product design as Fisher Price. I remember my Dad bringing home a big brick cell phone in the 80s. I don't see us returning to the giant brick of a phone like the earliest models. The classic brick phone had an LED screen and boasted 30 minutes of talk time with eight hours of standby. If I were PM, I'd make it illegal for any child under 16 to own more than a basic brick mobile phone. The first hand-held phones, affectionately known as "bricks", were still big and bulky, only made voice calls, and cost more than $4000. I have been longtime Moto user, way back to the huge white phone with the big black antennae, a real brick. It was a large brick with a massive battery issued by someone like Motorola. Apple takes you back to when a mobile phone was a brick, not the neat little gadgets they are now. His best phone was a massive old brick. You were lucky to have a flip phone, I had one of those Motorola bricks as my first cell phone. I've had a mobile phone for ten years. Not the same phone, obviously. My first one was a brick. 2.1 A smartphone or other electronic device that has completely ceased to function. while updating the firmware the USB cable got disconnected and the phone is now a brick Example sentencesExamples I've been nervous about rooting because my friend turned his phone into a brick. If you can't recover your ID or re-set your password, it's a brick. I went to update my operating system last night and my phone is now a brick. My 2 month old Xperia ZR is now a brick. Cracked screens, broken casings and malfunctioning operating systems short-circuited by moisture damage or dust infiltration can cause massive headaches and turn an expensive device into a useless brick. The 4.0.1 update has turned my phone into a brick. I need to somehow upgrade my Android 2.2 to 2.3 or higher - not as easy as you think without turning your cell into a brick. My phone is a brick and I really just don't understand what I can't do to fix it. If that isn't working your Windows 8 phone is going to turn into a brick. The update downloaded and said to restart my phone. I did and now it's a brick. 3British dated, informal A generous, helpful, and reliable person. 〈英，非正式，旧〉慷慨可靠的人；乐于助人的人 ‘You are really a brick, Vi,’ Gloria said “你真是个大好人，维，"格洛丽亚说。 Example sentencesExamples He's a brick, a chip off the old block, a good 'un. Large, jolly and boisterous, Carol is regarded as something of a brick, and there are sound reasons for the affection she commands. She really is a brick. Mr. Hall is such a brick, that when we get back he is going to take us all in. James was a brick, he helped anyway he could and managed to get me the tablets and stuff I needed. verb brɪk [with object] 1Block or enclose with a wall of bricks. 用砖墙围起；用砖堵住 the doors have been bricked up 门都用砖墙封了起来。 Example sentencesExamples They have food, shelter, and facilities, yet all doors are locked, all windows bricked over and no way out. The building's windows and doors were bricked in, and there didn't seem to be any other way inside. But when the ramparts went up they bricked up all the stations underneath them. Well, look for a big brown bricked building with a huge campus. Those windows were bricked in because to do so was far cheaper than making the needed structural repairs. Clutching her handbag, she opens the car door swiftly and steps onto the red bricked driveway. I'm not quite ready to be bricked into a forgotten wine cellar together for eternity. What really happened in this house seven years ago, and why is part of the basement bricked up? The car pulled closer to a three story bricked building. Some of the doors were bolted shut, some were bricked up. We walked along with out a word, until we got to a red bricked apartment building. Before you can leave the gym, you have to go through a nicely bricked breezeway. A cup found bricked into the original kitchen hearth is both remnant and confirmation of an early custom. I arrived in the green bricked hall, and was quickly let in by the tall man at the booth. You'll find a maze of alcoves in a candle-lit cellar, bricked, arched and genuinely antique. Cops went running past, as the assassin walked into a small red bricked building. Some of the once grand buildings of the town are sadly bricked up, but they still retain their beauty. The walls were bricked but filled with sports pictures and the booths were all different colors. But because they're often paved, bricked, or tiled, they have a tendency to look cold and uninviting. The teasing smell didn't have an effect on the cold warrior as he ambled through the uneven grey, bricked street. Synonyms block, seal, close, brick up 2British informal Throw bricks at. the pub was attacked and windows in the area were bricked Example sentencesExamples The cheek of this man to accuse Barnsley fans of violence is breathtakingpresumably it was Barnsley fans who bricked their own team bus after the game at Anfield and not Liverpool fans? In Chapelfields last night, a vehicle was damaged as youths held a wire or rope in front of it, and in Danebury Drive, Acomb, a bus was bricked. This amazing building has just been erected, and then a few weeks later, some mindless yobs graffiti the walls and brick the windows. The robocops appeared from nowhere and got bricked and bottled but managed to block us in. She had just sped off on her bicycle after bricking a window. We then started bricking the coaches as they slowly went past, one after the other. The action threat follows an incident on Saturday night when a Stagecoach service was bricked as it travelled down Bowerham Road towards Lancaster city centre. 3informal Cause (a smartphone or other electronic device) to become completely unable to function, typically on a permanent basis. installing an unofficial OS voids the warranty and may brick the phone Example sentencesExamples We always recommend that your device has at least 80% battery charge before you begin to avoid the possibility of bricking your phone if it turns off during installation. I know the bootloader won't be unlocked anymore, but is there a possibility that I could brick my phone? The last time we did a major over-the-air update on a phone, it bricked a perfectly good Sony Ericsson. Not all ROMs work on all phones and you can definitely brick your phone by failing to flash a ROM correctly. This update can brick your phone. Many computers include recovery features in their BIOS that allow them to recover from an interrupted BIOS flash that would normally brick the device. I called customer service and their suggestions bricked the phone. Bby hacking your standard model, you run the chance of bricking your phone the next time it's updated, potentially voiding your warranty at the same time. Proceed at your own risk, and if you permanently brick your phone, we can't help you. Note that any interruption at this point - reboot, disconnection from PC or power off - will permanently brick the device. 4be bricking oneselfBritish vulgar slang Be extremely worried or nervous. 〈英，粗俚〉非常担心；极紧张 Phrases bricks and mortar 1Buildings, typically housing. 建筑物（尤指住房） untold acres are being buried under bricks and mortar 数不清的土地正被用来建造房屋。 Example sentencesExamples We have over 20 million customers, between software, Internet, and bricks and mortar. That means we will enjoy three times the profitability of traditional bricks and mortar grocers. Direct sales - which includes the bricks and mortar retail stores - was up 45 per cent for the quarter. These retailers do not carry an inventory and most of them do not have a bricks and mortar store. There would be no need to pay for the bricks and mortar and the other services provided by traditional colleges. 1.1A house considered in terms of its value as an investment. 房产 a simple re-mortgage can release the value tied up in your bricks and mortar Example sentencesExamples People preferred to invest in bricks and mortar rather than in volatile equities. Most aim to help producers gain more clout in the marketplace without investing in bricks and mortar. But I took stock of what our real assets were, not just bricks and mortar, but what we had. Others said that in uncertain times for equity markets investors would still favour investing in bricks and mortar. We employ Inuit people and we've invested in bricks and mortar in Nunavut. Investment in bricks and mortar made by private companies is good. 1.2as modifierUsed to denote a business that operates conventionally rather than (or as well as) over the Internet. （企业）按传统模式（而非通过因特网）运营的；既以传统模式又通过因特网经营的 the bricks-and-mortar banks 按传统模式运营的银行。 Example sentencesExamples Business is business, no matter whether it's bricks-and-mortar or cyberspace-based. But other bricks-and-mortar businesses have found a home in cyberspace. Marketers have to be careful about comparing Internet shopping with bricks-and-mortar shopping, LaPointe warned. Highly digitized, the transaction process is conceptually similar for both the bricks-and-mortar and the virtual banks. Smart retailers are exploiting their Web savvy to bolster their bricks-and-mortar operations. brick by brick A little bit at a time. he built IBM brick by brick from an agglomeration of small enterprises Example sentencesExamples The solution is to undo the last 35 years, brick by brick. We think Leeds will recover step by step and brick by brick. Well, in presidential politics, candidates are starting to rake in important endorsements, one frontrunner seemingly building a campaign brick by brick. On 12 August, Ben Smith wrote a column in The Guardian in which he took the politician apart, brick by brick. We built this campaign brick by brick, making real contact with every school and nursery in the city. We're going to have to rebuild that confidence brick by brick. Propagandists exhorted the weary populace to rebuild the country, which they did, brick by brick, despite the harangues. They were the ones who were laying the foundations of the Party, brick by brick, and without their help no leader could accomplish anything. Brick by brick, we need to build a grass roots movement to retake America from the corporate warmongers now in power. People forget that the career that they built was brick by brick. come up against (or hit) a brick wall Face an insuperable problem or obstacle while trying to do something. 遇见不可克服的困难 at this age when you come up against a brick wall, you do sometimes feel like screaming with frustration Example sentencesExamples Sadly, this approach seemingly hit a brick wall too. When you talk to your partner, it feels as though you're hitting a brick wall. But growth in the domestic cider market looks to have hit a brick wall. We stood up to the competition and delivered a good service, but we hit a brick wall. I'm hitting a brick wall in trying to choose a good school and getting the hands-on experience I need. Each time he tried to get in, it was as if he were hitting a brick wall. Will efforts to end the election crisis hit a brick wall? The dancer's biggest frustrations surface when she hits a brick wall with a choreographer and nothing seems to work. I have talked to many people, but I keep hitting a brick wall. How will you respond when the new market segment hits a brick wall? like a ton of bricks informal With crushing weight, force, or authority. 〈非正式〉来势凶猛地，势不可挡地 the FA came down on him like a ton of bricks 足球协会以咄咄逼人之势向他兴师问罪。 Example sentencesExamples Realization hit her like a ton of bricks and she staggered under the weight of it. Revelation hits like a ton of bricks - you could totally see it in his eyes. I desperately tried to remember what had happened last night and suddenly, it fell upon me like a ton of bricks. As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, the enormity of the situation fell around her like a ton of bricks. Realization hit Josh like a ton of bricks. Then my father's word hit me like a ton of bricks. The hustle and bustle of the birthday party hit him like a ton of bricks. When I first heard that, it hit me like a ton of bricks. When you learned that he had given an alleged confession, that must have hit like a ton of bricks. The words hit me like a ton of bricks, like a bomb. Synonyms sharply, roundly, soundly, fiercely, scathingly, savagely London to a brick on informal Used to indicate that something is certain or highly probable. I will bet you London to a brick on that this goes nowhere Example sentencesExamples I'll bet London to a brick he will return coaching. It was a good rally today but London to a brick on I will only get back half of what was lost yesterday. I bet London to a brick there will be something very unsavoury between her and the creepy father. You can bet London to a brick Harris will break down soon. We could have saved thousands of tax payer dollars as far as the surplus goes, but I bet you London to a brick it won't be achieved. It was London to a brick that Woods would take this Masters, but he never got really close. Ask people who have played both league and union and I'll bet London to a brick that the majority prefer to play union. Given the defensive posture, it's London to a brick that Rogers will go to 13. I'm prepared to bet London to a brick she won't win gold! I would lay London to a brick that that circumstance won't prevail much longer. you can't make bricks without straw proverb Nothing can be made or accomplished without proper or adequate material or information. 〈谚〉巧妇难为无米之炊 Example sentencesExamples You can't make bricks without straw and you can't portray a character just by making him up from within yourself. The law of value will still be there reminding us that, even under socialism, you can't make bricks without straw. For our enterprises, ‘One can't make bricks without straw’ is no longer a solid excuse. It's no good trying to build a website if you don't know any html, you can't make bricks without straw. Origin Late Middle English: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch bricke, brike; probably reinforced by Old French brique; of unknown ultimate origin. English brick is found only from the middle of the 15th century. It was probably introduced by Flemish workmen, for it is a Low German word and Flemings were associated with early brick making. Use of the word was probably reinforced by Old French brique ‘a form of loaf’. Some French dialects still have the phrase brique de pain ‘piece of bread’. The ultimate origin is unknown. Rhymes artic, chick, click, crick, flick, hand-pick, hic, hick, kick, lick, mick, miskick, nick, pic, pick, quick, rick, shtick, sic, sick, slick, snick, stick, thick, tic, tick, trick, Vic, wick noun.1 phr. brick¹ nounbrɪkbrik 1A small rectangular block typically made of fired or sun-dried clay, used in building. 砖，砖块 Example sentencesExamples Later, baked clay bricks were used for walling. We all need some knowledge of the bricks before we start building. This restraining edge is necessary because mortarless bricks tend to shift at the edges. Brick saws can be used to cut bricks, pavers, stones, large quarry tiles and other masonry. It was the only building with glaringly bright light shining though the spaces between the bricks of the building. Use paving bricks or blocks around the edge to prevent the dog from injuring itself on the edge of the chicken wire. Common building materials are concrete blocks and bricks. Newer houses have walls made of adobe blocks or bricks, with roofs of corrugated zinc or cement. For brick, concrete and cinder block, only latex should be used. Mud and wattle or sun-dried bricks are used in house building in rural areas; well-off families may use concrete blocks. Most buildings are made of bricks and concrete, while others are made of adobe-style mud. In Guinea, most new small buildings are made of badly fired bricks, and have corrugated metal roofs. The production cost was higher than that of clay bricks. Ivy will not harm fired clay bricks, nor will it cause mortar to crumble unless the mortar is already unsound. It looked as if it had been dug and then lined with bricks of clay. He mixed the sand with clay to form bricks, which were then heated to high temperatures. Cracked mortar between bricks should also be repointed by carefully removing and replacing any unsound mortar. Clay walls may be molded by hand or with wooden forms; it may be preformed into bricks and sun-dried. Thick smooth bricks suggested a building of some sort. Missing parts were not imitated but added in a modern way, often using the rubble bricks of destroyed buildings. 1.1 Bricks collectively as a building material. 总称砖 this mill was built of brick 这个磨坊是用砖建造的。 as modifier a large brick building 一幢高大的砖楼。 Example sentencesExamples In the town square, autumn sun softens the old stone and brick buildings. They were walking toward a short small building made of a type of brick looking material. Preferred materials are stone and adobe brick fortified by heavy timbers. The apartments are laid out in two three-storey buildings with rustic brick elevations and mansard type roofs. Present-day government buildings are often old brick edifices left over from the Soviet period. Other massive materials, such as brick and stone, also store the sun's heat and add mass to a building's interior. Wall materials such as stucco, cement, brick, plaster, stone, and block are most resistant to high temperatures. The Doyle Hall was a modern five-story brick building, with balconies. Storage of solar heat occurs in a dense mass materials like concrete, brick and water. It sat as an empty shell from 1965 to 1978, a vacant, desolate, boarded up old brick building. It was a building of stone and brick with no tell-tale signs of any real life, however, inside there was. While it dates back to 1879, there's no quaint Main Street lined with old brick buildings. It is fitted with a brick fireplace with gas fire inset and has views over the side gardens. Woodlawn is brick, a building material rarely used in early nineteenth-century Maine where lumber was so plentiful. The primary building material was large adobe brick, and huge pyramids towered above the city. It is one of the few remaining brick and stucco depot buildings remaining in south Alabama. A small fire rose in the brick fire place, growing stronger and hotter. It was a nice road with old brick and stone buildings with cobblestone roads and sidewalks. First, be sure to take into account the fixed colors of your home - brick, stone work and the roof color. As growth continued, substantial brick and stone buildings replaced frontier tents and shanties. 1.2 A small rectangular object. 砖形物 a brick of ice cream 冰砖。 Example sentencesExamples The large golden bricks were more than twice her size and she looked up at them and smiled. Think of a beautiful counter with nothing to chop on it, except a brick of ice. Sure, he was cool when he sported that brick of a cell phone while strolling on the beach. I attempted to respond, but it was if I was encased in a brick of glass. But is there a cure to melt the whole of this brick of ice within me? After the 90 minutes, place a brick of dough between two sheets of wax paper. He snapped the cylinder into his curved brick of a weapon, stepped back and let the fireworks chatter. I sigh and walk back to the benches, where Steven had laid down his brick of a book. Meat loaf, once a loathed, dry brick of protein, now enjoys more respect, if only for its retro-cool quotient. After six quick moves with the knife, he is left with a brick of potato. He brings her a mug of coffee with a brick of imported truffle chocolate floating in the middle. The tuna in question is a brick of sushi-grade bluefin toro, seared on one side only. Get a brick of white, scent-free glycerin soap from the craft store. I went to the open wall-safe and liberated its contents: to wit, several stout bricks of high-denomination Pound notes. She remembered selling him a brick of hash out of the broken down toilet stall. Rather, a brick of five or seven cartridges are collectively shrink-wrapped together. How many people would feel worse off if someone threw a brick of gold through their front window? None of us came from the womb clutching a bottle of Cab and a big brick of English cheddar. I was enjoying the moment of drowsy bliss before reality hit me like a brick of lead. A shipment of coffee mugs should include a single-pot brick of coffee. Synonyms block, cube, slab, bar, cake 2informal A large and relatively heavy mobile phone, typically an early model with limited functionality. I had one of those Motorola bricks as my first cell phone Example sentencesExamples I don't see us returning to the giant brick of a phone like the earliest models. The idea was born when mobile phones were bricks and Macs seemed to share the same product design as Fisher Price. I have been longtime Moto user, way back to the huge white phone with the big black antennae, a real brick. It was a large brick with a massive battery issued by someone like Motorola. The classic brick phone had an LED screen and boasted 30 minutes of talk time with eight hours of standby. Apple takes you back to when a mobile phone was a brick, not the neat little gadgets they are now. I remember my Dad bringing home a big brick cell phone in the 80s. His best phone was a massive old brick. The first hand-held phones, affectionately known as "bricks", were still big and bulky, only made voice calls, and cost more than $4000. I've had a mobile phone for ten years. Not the same phone, obviously. My first one was a brick. If I were PM, I'd make it illegal for any child under 16 to own more than a basic brick mobile phone. You were lucky to have a flip phone, I had one of those Motorola bricks as my first cell phone. 2.1 A smartphone or other electronic device that has completely ceased to function. while updating the firmware the USB cable got disconnected and the phone is now a brick Example sentencesExamples If that isn't working your Windows 8 phone is going to turn into a brick. The 4.0.1 update has turned my phone into a brick. I need to somehow upgrade my Android 2.2 to 2.3 or higher - not as easy as you think without turning your cell into a brick. I went to update my operating system last night and my phone is now a brick. The update downloaded and said to restart my phone. I did and now it's a brick. I've been nervous about rooting because my friend turned his phone into a brick. If you can't recover your ID or re-set your password, it's a brick. Cracked screens, broken casings and malfunctioning operating systems short-circuited by moisture damage or dust infiltration can cause massive headaches and turn an expensive device into a useless brick. My 2 month old Xperia ZR is now a brick. My phone is a brick and I really just don't understand what I can't do to fix it. 3British dated, informal A generous, helpful, and reliable person. 〈英，非正式，旧〉慷慨可靠的人；乐于助人的人 Example sentencesExamples He's a brick, a chip off the old block, a good 'un. Large, jolly and boisterous, Carol is regarded as something of a brick, and there are sound reasons for the affection she commands. She really is a brick. Mr. Hall is such a brick, that when we get back he is going to take us all in. James was a brick, he helped anyway he could and managed to get me the tablets and stuff I needed. verbbrɪkbrik [with object] 1Block or enclose with a wall of bricks. 用砖墙围起；用砖堵住 the doors have been bricked up 门都用砖墙封了起来。 Example sentencesExamples A cup found bricked into the original kitchen hearth is both remnant and confirmation of an early custom. I arrived in the green bricked hall, and was quickly let in by the tall man at the booth. The teasing smell didn't have an effect on the cold warrior as he ambled through the uneven grey, bricked street. But because they're often paved, bricked, or tiled, they have a tendency to look cold and uninviting. Some of the once grand buildings of the town are sadly bricked up, but they still retain their beauty. But when the ramparts went up they bricked up all the stations underneath them. You'll find a maze of alcoves in a candle-lit cellar, bricked, arched and genuinely antique. Some of the doors were bolted shut, some were bricked up. The building's windows and doors were bricked in, and there didn't seem to be any other way inside. They have food, shelter, and facilities, yet all doors are locked, all windows bricked over and no way out. The walls were bricked but filled with sports pictures and the booths were all different colors. What really happened in this house seven years ago, and why is part of the basement bricked up? Before you can leave the gym, you have to go through a nicely bricked breezeway. The car pulled closer to a three story bricked building. Those windows were bricked in because to do so was far cheaper than making the needed structural repairs. Well, look for a big brown bricked building with a huge campus. We walked along with out a word, until we got to a red bricked apartment building. I'm not quite ready to be bricked into a forgotten wine cellar together for eternity. Clutching her handbag, she opens the car door swiftly and steps onto the red bricked driveway. Cops went running past, as the assassin walked into a small red bricked building. Synonyms block, seal, close, brick up 2informal Cause (a smartphone or other electronic device) to become completely unable to function, typically on a permanent basis. installing an unofficial OS voids the warranty and may brick the phone Example sentencesExamples Many computers include recovery features in their BIOS that allow them to recover from an interrupted BIOS flash that would normally brick the device. Note that any interruption at this point - reboot, disconnection from PC or power off - will permanently brick the device. Not all ROMs work on all phones and you can definitely brick your phone by failing to flash a ROM correctly. We always recommend that your device has at least 80% battery charge before you begin to avoid the possibility of bricking your phone if it turns off during installation. I know the bootloader won't be unlocked anymore, but is there a possibility that I could brick my phone? Proceed at your own risk, and if you permanently brick your phone, we can't help you. This update can brick your phone. The last time we did a major over-the-air update on a phone, it bricked a perfectly good Sony Ericsson. I called customer service and their suggestions bricked the phone. Bby hacking your standard model, you run the chance of bricking your phone the next time it's updated, potentially voiding your warranty at the same time. Phrases bricks and mortar 1Buildings. David knows how inefficient it is to tie up your capital in bricks and mortar Example sentencesExamples We have over 20 million customers, between software, Internet, and bricks and mortar. There would be no need to pay for the bricks and mortar and the other services provided by traditional colleges. These retailers do not carry an inventory and most of them do not have a bricks and mortar store. Direct sales - which includes the bricks and mortar retail stores - was up 45 per cent for the quarter. That means we will enjoy three times the profitability of traditional bricks and mortar grocers. 1.1as modifierUsed to denote a business that operates conventionally rather than (or as well as) over the Internet. （企业）按传统模式（而非通过因特网）运营的；既以传统模式又通过因特网经营的 the bricks-and-mortar banks 按传统模式运营的银行。 Compare with clicks and mortar Example sentencesExamples But other bricks-and-mortar businesses have found a home in cyberspace. Marketers have to be careful about comparing Internet shopping with bricks-and-mortar shopping, LaPointe warned. Highly digitized, the transaction process is conceptually similar for both the bricks-and-mortar and the virtual banks. Business is business, no matter whether it's bricks-and-mortar or cyberspace-based. Smart retailers are exploiting their Web savvy to bolster their bricks-and-mortar operations. like a ton of bricks informal With crushing weight, force, or authority. 〈非正式〉来势凶猛地，势不可挡地 all her years of marriage suddenly fell on her like a ton of bricks Example sentencesExamples The hustle and bustle of the birthday party hit him like a ton of bricks. Realization hit Josh like a ton of bricks. The words hit me like a ton of bricks, like a bomb. I desperately tried to remember what had happened last night and suddenly, it fell upon me like a ton of bricks. As she stared at her reflection in the mirror, the enormity of the situation fell around her like a ton of bricks. Revelation hits like a ton of bricks - you could totally see it in his eyes. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks and she staggered under the weight of it. When I first heard that, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Then my father's word hit me like a ton of bricks. When you learned that he had given an alleged confession, that must have hit like a ton of bricks. Synonyms sharply, roundly, soundly, fiercely, scathingly, savagely you can't make bricks without straw proverb Nothing can be made or accomplished without proper or adequate material or information. 〈谚〉巧妇难为无米之炊 Example sentencesExamples It's no good trying to build a website if you don't know any html, you can't make bricks without straw. The law of value will still be there reminding us that, even under socialism, you can't make bricks without straw. You can't make bricks without straw and you can't portray a character just by making him up from within yourself. For our enterprises, ‘One can't make bricks without straw’ is no longer a solid excuse. hit (or run into) a brick wall Face an insuperable problem or obstacle while trying to do something. 遇见不可克服的困难 Example sentencesExamples I have talked to many people, but I keep hitting a brick wall. How will you respond when the new market segment hits a brick wall? But growth in the domestic cider market looks to have hit a brick wall. I'm hitting a brick wall in trying to choose a good school and getting the hands-on experience I need. We stood up to the competition and delivered a good service, but we hit a brick wall. Sadly, this approach seemingly hit a brick wall too. The dancer's biggest frustrations surface when she hits a brick wall with a choreographer and nothing seems to work. Each time he tried to get in, it was as if he were hitting a brick wall. When you talk to your partner, it feels as though you're hitting a brick wall. Will efforts to end the election crisis hit a brick wall? shit a brick (or bricks) vulgar slang Be extremely anxious or nervous. Origin Late Middle English: from Middle Low German, Middle Dutch bricke, brike; probably reinforced by Old French brique; of unknown ultimate origin. Brick² proper nounbrɪkbrik A township in southeastern New Jersey; population 78,419 (est. 2008). noun.1 phr. name.1
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Definition of brick in English:

brick

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brick1

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Brick2

brick¹

Brick²