▪ I. build, v.
(bɪld)
Pa. tense and pple. built, poet. and arch. builded. Forms: inf. 3–4 bulde(n, 4 bylden, bilden, (bield, byle), (4–5 belde(n, beelde), 4–6 byld(e, bild(e, 5 buylden, 5–6 buyld(e, 6 builde, (byeld, beald, Sc. beild), 6– build. pa. tense 4 bildide, (bult), 4–5 bild(e, 5 buylde, byld, bylled, 5–6 bylded, -yd, buylded, (6 Sc. belt), 6– built, builded. pa. pple., 2 ȝebyld, 4 i-, y-buld, y-beld, bilde, bulde, bilt, (bilid), 5 bild, bylte, beldid, bildid, 6 bylded, bylt, (bylled, -yd), buylded, -yt, buylt, (i-bylt), (8 build), 6– built, builded.
[ME. bulden(ü), bylden, bilden:—OE. *byldan to build (recorded only in pa. pple. ᵹebyld), f. bold a dwelling. Hence the two fundamental senses are ‘to construct a dwelling’ and ‘to take up one's abode, dwell’. The normal modern spelling of the word would be bild (as it is actually pronounced); the origin of the spelling bui- (buy- in Caxton), and its retention to modern times, are difficult of explanation.
The OE. pple. ᵹebyld might be from a compound ᵹebyldan: but cf. the southern bytlan (Gregory's Past. Care 153, l. 9–10), later bytlian (see Bosw.-Toller), f. *buþlo- (whence botl, bold), which points to the antiquity of the vb. (Not to be confounded with OE. byldan, ᵹebyldan, for bieldan to make bold: see bield.)]
I. To erect a building.
1. a. trans. Orig. To construct for a dwelling; to erect (a house), make (a nest). Hence, To erect, construct (any work of masonry), and by extension, To construct by fitting together of separate parts; chiefly with reference to structures of considerable size, as a ship or boat, a carriage, an organ, a steam-engine (not, e.g. a watch or a piano). Const. of, more rarely from, out of, with (the material), on (the foundation). In early mod.Eng. used with up without change of meaning; but to build up (in literal sense) now implies a contrast with pulling down, or with a previous state of decay, as ‘to build up again’. to build a fire: to arrange or pile the fuel. to build a railroad, said in U.S., is unknown in England.
| [c 1150 The Grave in Thorpe Analecta 142 Ðe wes bold ᵹebyld er þu iboren were.] c 1205 Lay. 2656 He wolde bulden twa burh. 1297 R. Glouc. 439 At Wyndelsore..þat noble stede ys, Þat he let bulde hym sulf. c 1400 Mandeville 98 [He] destroyed it [Jerico] and cursed it, and alle hem that bylled it aȝen. 1430 Lydg. Story of Thebes d j in Dom. Archit. III. 47 A porche bylte of square stons. 1480 Caxton Descr. Brit. 13 He bylded Caunterbury. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 138 b, Jerico, Hay, and Gabaon, whiche y⊇ pagans buylded. 1541 in Turner Sel. Rec. Oxford 164 Standyngs now made and buyldyd or hereafter to be made and buyld for the said fayre. 1562 J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 168 Roome was not bylt on one day. 1601 Chester Love's Mart. cx. (1878) 27 At Mount Paladour he built his Tent. 1644 Evelyn Mem. (1857) I. 75 A castle builded on a very steep cliff. 1718 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. II. liii. 78 The houses are tolerably well built. 1794 S. Williams Vermont 138 When the Indian builded his house. 1861 F. Nightingale Nursing 18 Your house must be so built as that the outer air shall find its way..to every corner of it. |
b. build up.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1535 Priam..byld vp a bygge towne of þe bare vrthe. 1490 Caxton Eneydos lxv. 166 Af thys cyte ben many in doubte who buylde it vppe. 1611 Bible 2 Chron. xxxii. 5 Hezekiah built up the wall that was broken. Mod. It is far easier to pull down than to build up. |
c. build a fire, gun, nest, organ, railroad, ship.
| 1567 Triall Treas. (1850) 9 Synce Noe's ship Was made, and builded. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. iv. xii. 4 Swallowes haue built in Cleopatra's Sailes their nests. 1651 Proc. Parliament No. 123. 1910 A Vessell..built at Swansey. 1789 G. White Selborne xliii. (1853) 151 A pair of honey buzzards built them a nest. 1805 Southey Madoc in Azt. iv, Fires are built before the tents. 1852 Seidel Organ 21 In 1576, an organ with..a back-choir was built at Bernan. a 1856 Longfellow Building Ship 94 Thus, said he, we will build this ship! 1860 All Y. Round No. 73. 545 The taste of the day is for guns that are built, not cast. 1883 Harper's Mag. Nov. 939/1, 550 miles of railroad had been built. 1884 Ibid. June 127/2 He often built his own fire. |
2. a. absol. To erect a building or buildings; ‘to play the architect’ (J.). Of birds or other animals: To construct nests, etc. (Possibly the earliest instances may belong rather to sense 8.)
| c 1205 Lay. 29671 Al..bigunnen..to bulden bi þan watere. c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 509 Bryddeȝ busken to bylde. 1382 Wyclif Esdra iv. 2 Bilde wee vp with you. 1413 Lydg. Pylgr. Sowle v. xiv. (1483) 108 Yf thou..arte a maister werker, couthest thou bilde withouten mater. 1594 Shakes. Rich. III, i. iii. 264 Our ayerie buildeth in the Cedars top. 1664 Gerbier Counsel 104 All Owners..whether they build or not. 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 294 The Ground was let out to build on. 1848 L. Hunt Jar Honey iii. 33 Building as if they were to live for ever. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. cxv, The happy birds, that change their sky To build and brood. |
b. With certain advbs., build forms virtual compounds founded on this sense, but used trans. with the notion ‘to affect in such or such ways by building’. to build up: to obstruct (a doorway, window, etc.) by building. to build in: to immure, enclose by building; also, to construct or insert (something, esp. furniture) as an integral part of a larger unit; also fig.; chiefly as pa. pple. (see built ppl. a. 1 b). to build round: to surround with buildings.
The advb. may either follow or precede the object.
| 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 6 Now built round by rock and boulder. a 1888 Mod. When we first came here, the situation was very open, but we are now completely built in. 1933 Telegr. & Teleph. Jrnl. XIX. 151/1 In New York telephones are ‘built-in’ and when you become a tenant..you 'phone as often as you like. 1956 A. H. Compton Atomic Quest 326 Better control of the amount of rubber that is built into tires. 1965 Listener 4 Nov. 687/1 The legacy of those years has been built in to the domestic and foreign policies of both countries. |
3. transf. a. To construct by a process or with a result analogous to that of the builder. Said, e.g., of the Creator, or of natural forces, as when a crystal, an organic body, or the world, is compared to an edifice. Often said in passive of the human body, as ‘His frame was strongly built’ (cf. build n.). Const. as in 1. built like a castle: said of a horse having a strong and sturdy frame.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. (1641) 49/2 Beasts which thou This-Day didst build. 1699 Bentley Phal. 54 Built as it were to make a good Boxer. 1835 G. Stephen Adv. Search of Horse i, He [sc. a cob] was, to use the accepted phrase, ‘built like a castle!’ 1843 J. A. Smith Product. Farming 137 Hence the reason why bodies can be nourished and built up upon food comparatively poor in nitrogen. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. §1. 2 An amethyst is a crystal built up from particles of silica. 1882 Illustr. Sporting & Dram. News 4 Feb. 502/1 Miss Bell's colt is built like a castle, and full of massive strength from head to heels. 1883 E. A. Parkyn Syllabus Lect. Anim. & Pl. Life 4 This power of building-up living from non-living matter is called Assimilation. |
b. trans. and intr. Tailoring. To make (clothes).
| 1840 Barham Ingol. Leg. 22 [The trousers] were cleverly ‘built’, of a light-grey mixture. 1897 Globe 11 Mar. 3/4 A tailor would..have had his work cut out for him to build that..chubby creature a costume. 1897 G. du Maurier Martian iv. 183 Is it still Skinner who builds for you? |
c. to be built (that way, etc.): to be (so) constituted or naturally disposed. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1882 Amer. Humorist 12 May (Farmer), Even womankind is not built as she was a few brief years ago. 1888 Missouri Republ. 25 Jan. (Farmer), ‘Why didn't you roll down?’ ‘I wasn't built that way.’ 1912 A. Bennett Matador of Five Towns 75 I'm not built the same way myself. |
d. In card-playing: (see quot. 1901). Also transf. U.S.
| 1901 Munsey's Mag. XXIV. 871/2 To build down..is to place a card upon one of the next higher denomination. To build up..is to do just the opposite—that is, to place an eight on a seven. 1903 A. Adams Log Cowboy vi. 76, I built right up to him. |
4. fig. a. With reference to immaterial objects: To construct, frame, raise, by gradual means (anything that is compared to an edifice, as a philosophical system, a literary work, a reputation, an empire). Often with up. In religious use, after N.T., to build up (the Church, an individual) = to edify (also absol.). to build up (any one's health, strength, etc.): to establish it by gradual means.
| c 1440 Gesta Rom. (1879) 86 All þat is ayens conscience, beldith toward helle. 1526 Tindale Acts xx. 32, I commende you to God and to the worde of his grace which is able to bylde further [1611 to build you vp]. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 36 That..they may meryte and buylde to theyr crowne in heuen. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie ii. xiii. (1811) 109 Meetres..builded with polysillables. a 1593 Marlowe Mass. at Paris iii. ii, Who will help to build religion? 1637 Milton Lycidas 11 He knew Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. v. 18 Build our selves Men againe. 1726 Wodrow Corr. (1843) III. 269, I rejoice that the Lord is building up your family. 1814 Wordsw. Excurs. iv. 1254 So build we up the Being that we are. 1842 Tennyson Godiva 79 She..built herself an everlasting name. 1860 Farrar Orig. Lang. i. 7 Building systems before they had collected facts. 1862 Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. iii. 52 His fortunes were built up. 1881 N. T. (Rev.) 2 Cor. x. 8. |
b. to build up: to establish or enhance the reputation or prominence of (a person, nation, etc.); to ‘boost’. orig. U.S.
| 1935 S. Lewis It can't happen Here ix. 86 Sarason had, as it was scientifically called, been ‘building up’ Senator Windrip for seven years before his nomination as President. 1939 Ann. Reg. 1938 262 The desire to ‘build-up’ the figure of the Leader (El Caudillo) in the approved Fascist style. 1944 A. Jacob Traveller's War xii. 212 Rommel had been ‘built up’ by the British press into a great figure. Ibid. 213 He set out to build himself up in the eyes of an army that had tasted defeat. |
c. to build up. trans. and intr. Of an electric current, volume of sound, etc.: to increase.
| 1936 Discovery July 222/2 The sound builds up from silence to strength. Ibid. 223/1 The amplifier building up the sound they [sc. the oscillating valves] produce before it reaches the loud-speaker. 1949 Chr. Sci. Monitor 30 Apr. Mag. Sect. 2/4 Five relay stations..build up the signal. |
d. to build up. intr.: to accumulate, collect; to grow.
| 1956 A. L. Rowse Early Churchills ii. 22 Such was the spirit that was building up on either side in this deplorable war. 1962 Which? Car Suppl. Oct. 139/2 Some rust had built up behind the chrome strips on both front wings. |
5. lit. and fig. To work up (material) into (a building); to join together so as to form a structure. Also with up.
| 1388 Wyclif Gen. ii. 22 The Lord God bildide the rib..in to a womman. 1884 Manchester Exam. 18 Sept. 4/6 He collects the spoils of many sessions..like a skilful architect, builds them into a fair and seemly edifice. |
6. fig. a. trans. To found (a statement, argument, hope, or confidence, etc.) on a basis.
| 1528 More Dial. Heresyes iv. Wks. 249/2 He taketh the same..for a ground therupon to byeld the distruccion of that holy sacrament of penaunce. 1658 Whole Duty Man Sund. x. §1. 79, I shall..build all the particular duties..on those two general ones. 1689 Locke Govt. i. ix. 87 Sovereignty built on ‘property’..comes to nothing. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 253 ¶4 The Fame that is built on Candour and Ingenuity. 1781 J. Moore View Soc. It. (1790) I. vii. 70 The independence of Venice was not built on usurpation. 1837 J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (ed. 3) I. vi. 90 A Christian's faith and obedience is built on all this. |
b. absol. To found one's confidence, establish an argument, etc. on; to rely confidently on a person or thing (obs. or arch.).
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (1884) 27, I..tould him I wuld bilde uppon him. 1624 Massinger Renegado iv. iii, Heaven..will not suffer you to want a man To do that sacred office, build upon it. 1635 Swan Spec. M. ii. §3 (1643) 33, I find..little in Iosephus concerning this to build upon. 1674 tr. Machiavelli's Prince ix. (1883) 66 He that builds upon the people builds upon the sand. 1699 Bentley Phal. 238 One may build upon this piece of History, as a thing undeniable. 1741 Richardson Pamela I. 144, I am deny'd..to go to Church, as I had built upon I might. 1799 Med. & Phys. Jrnl. II. 222 Whether or not that evidence is admissible to build upon. 1847 Tennyson Princ. vii. 60 Not tho' he built upon the babe restored. 1876 E. Mellor Priesth. vii. 323 The next passage upon which the Romanists and Ritualists build. |
7. quasi-passive use of the pr. pple., as in the house is building, orig. the house is a building, where building was the vbl. n., and a = on. See a prep.1 12, and building.
| [1535 Coverdale Ezra v. 16 Sence that tyme hath it bene in buyldinge. Ibid. John ii. 20 Sixe and fourtye yeare was this temple abuyldinge. a 1665 J. Goodwin Filled w. the Spirit (1867) 390 The wall that is a-building.] 1841 Catlin N. Amer. Ind. (1844) II. xlvi. 95 A pretty little town, building up. 1860 Merc. Mar. Mag. VII. 300 The..lighthouse is stated to be building. 1862 Thornbury Turner I. 199 Five drawings of the abbey, then building. |
II. [See the etymology.]
† 8. intr. To take up one's abode, to dwell. Also, To arise, form. Obs.
| c 1340 Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 25 Of alle that here bult of Bretaygne kynges Ay watz Arthur þe hendest. c 1400 Epiph. (Turnb. 1843) 142 The holy goste will in the byldon. 1470 Harding Chron. lxi. ii, Galerius had the este there into bylde [v.r. theryn hym to bylde]. 1599 Greene Alphons. (1861) 241 A blister build upon that traitors tongue! |
▪ II. build, n.
(bɪld)
Also 4 bylde, bulde, 5 bild.
[f. build v.: cf. built n.]
† 1. A building. Obs.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. A 726 On þe bylde. Ibid. 962 Bryng me to þat bygly bylde. 1387 Trevisa Higden Rolls Ser. II. 71 Buldes..in þe manere of Rome [ædificia Romano more]. 1394 P. Pl. Crede 157 Swich a bild bold, y-buld opon erþe heiȝte Say I nouȝt in certeine siþþe a longe tyme. |
2. Building; style of construction, make: a. lit. of a ship, a carriage, etc. (rarely, if ever, of a house or other work of masonry).
| 1667 Pepys Diary (1879) IV. 253 The difference in the build of ships now and heretofore. 1668 Ibid. 30 Oct., He finds most infinite fault with it [my coach]..and so I do resolve to have one of his build. 1842 De Quincey Philos. Herodotus Wks. IX. 207 The awkwardness of their build for fast sailing. |
b. transf. and fig.
| 1833–48 H. Coleridge North. Worthies (1852) I. 1 Andrew Marvell a patriot of the old Roman build. 1839–47 Todd Cycl. Anat. & Phys. III. 523/1 The build of the fibre is..of no importance. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxii. (1856) 175 In build he [a bear] was very solid. 1876 Green Short Hist. ii. §3 (1882) 67 The peasant..recalls the build and features of the small English farmer. |