▪ I. † built, n. Obs.
[f. build v.; mode of formation uncertain; cf. gilt, f. gild; also build n. and builth.]
1. Style of construction (of a ship, etc.), build.
| c 1615 Chapman Odyss. xi. 146 A sail Of foreign built. 1658 in Hist. Glasgow (1881) 243 Excelling the model and usual built of townhalls. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. lx, And as the built, so different is the fight. 1764 Reid Inquiry vi. §20 The sailor sees the burthen, the built, and the distance of a ship at sea. 1794 W. Roberts Looker-on III. 408 Friendship and love require..a peculiar built of mind. |
2. Action of building.
| 1654 G. Goddard in Burton Diary (1828) I. 88 note, A constant and continual built of ships. |
▪ II. built, ppl. a.
(bɪlt)
[f. build v. q.v.]
1. a. Constructed, erected, etc.: see build v. Also with advbs., as built-over, built-up.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 130 Bilt, aedificatus. 1662 Gerbier Princ. 40 His built Banquetting House. 1851 Ruskin Stones Ven. I. viii. §11 The built and tower-like shaft. 1935 E. Bowen House in Paris ii. i. 88 A smoky built-over hill. 1954 L. MacNeice Autumn Sequel 131 The Roman slabs lay snug below In that built-over darkness. |
b. built-in: (a) constructed to form an integral part of a larger unit, esp. of the fittings or appurtenances of a house; (b) fig. inherent, integral, innate.
| 1898 Electrical Engin. July 2 The first and simplest is the ‘solid’ or ‘built-in’ system, where wires, which are insulated thoroughly and thoroughly protected from mechanical disturbances, are buried in the ground. 1902 Harper's Monthly Mag. Jan. 302/2 A built-in refrigrator. 1929 M. Skipper Meeting-Pool 6 ‘I shall be waiting then,’ murmured the Crocodile, snuggling his long face, with the built-in smile on it, into the warm sand. 1930 Engineering 7 Mar. 309/2 The employment of built-in and flange motors is also increasing. 1933 Discovery July 219/1 Bedrooms are small, adequate space for the storing of clothes, for a desk and so on, being found in built-in furniture. 1946 Koestler in New Writing & Daylight 82 Archetypes are..inherited, built-in patterns of instinct-conflicts. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 162/1 Counter Unit with..built-in storage space underneath. 1962 Listener 26 July 131/1 The phrase ‘built-in obsolescence’..was very fashionable, especially among cynics, about ten years ago. |
Hence as n., a built-in piece of furniture, etc. Chiefly N. Amer.
| 1930 San Antonio (Texas) Light 31 Jan. 14/6 (Advt.), Houses for sale{ddd}large screened porch, cabinets, built-ins. 1963 House & Garden Feb. 7 (Advt.), A Moffat Built-In is a Moffat plus. 1970 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 28 Sept. 26/4 (Advt.), 3 large bedrooms, 3 washrooms, many built-ins. |
c. built-up: (a) (see sense 1a above); (b) constructed of parts, esp. of parts that are separately prepared and afterwards joined or welded together; so built-up gun, a gun whose parts are constructed separately and united in such a way that the elastic quality of the metal is fully utilized; (c) designating a locality where buildings abound, esp. in built-up area. Also built-up butt, a raised as distinguished from a sunken shooting-butt; built-up rope (see quot. 1908). Of a shoe: heightened.
| 1829 Nat. Philos. I. Optics iii. 12 (Usef. Knowl. Ser.) Dr. Brewster has contrived a built-up lens. 1853 C. Brontë Villette I. x. 188 This demi-convent, secluded in the built-up core of a capital. 1865 P. Barry Shoeburyness & the Guns vi. 86 The built-up system demands the same care..as the Krupp blocks. 1886 Harper's Mag. Oct. 786/2 The means of providing against this successive rupture of overstrained parts is found in the ‘built-up gun’. 1887 Cassell's Fam. Mag. 509/1 A Built-up File. 1904 Westm. Gaz. 26 Aug. 3/1 A built-up butt. 1908 Animal Managem. (War Office) 143 The ‘built-up’ [picketing] rope, a portion of which is carried by each man. 1935 Ann. Reg. 1934 ii. 71 The recently passed Road Traffic Act..was extended shortly afterwards to all ‘built-up’ areas throughout the country. 1937 Sunday Times 10 Jan., The perils of built-up by-passes. 1946 E. Johnston Writing xv. 255 Built-up letters are composed of compound strokes. 1950 A. L. Rowse England of Eliz. v. 162 The actual built-up area grew in extent in Elizabeth's reign. 1969 T. Parker Twisting Lane 19, I have to wear this special built-up shoe. |
d. The simple built is used in the same sense as 1c (b) above.
| 1860 All Y. Round No. 73. 549 The Armstrong gun..is a built gun. a 1877 Knight Dict. Mech., Built-beam, a compound beam made up of a number of planks, or thin, deep beams, laid parallel and secured together. Ibid., Built-rib, an arched beam made of parallel plank laid edgewise and bolted together. 1908 Westm. Gaz. 14 Nov. 19/2 The built all-in-one frock of lace net. 1909 Ibid. 20 Mar. 8/3 Three-bladed propellers of the ‘built’ type. |
2. In comb., as well-built, strongly built, said of a house, body, etc.; often of a ship, denoting the style, material, or place of construction, as frigate-built, wooden-built, Clyde-built.
| 1583 Stanyhurst æneis i. (Arb.) 17 A long buylt citty theare stood, Carthago so named. 1621 Fletcher Wildgoose Ch., They are ill-built..And weak i' the pasterns. 1663 Act 15 Chas. II, vii. §6 English built shipping. 1706 Lond. Gaz. No. 4209/4 A well-built bay Stallion. Ibid. No. 4691/4 A high built Gold Watch and Case. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) H 4 A ship is said to be frigate-built, galley-built. 1860 Merc. Mar. Mag. VII. 245 She is wooden built. 1871 M. Collins Mrq. & Merch. I. iv. 139 Several well-built girls aspired to fill the situation. |