# brick

/ˈbɹɪk/ (US) · /bɹˈɪk/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/brick
Updated: 2026-08-15

## Senses

### 1. building material

noun · CEFR A2

a hard, rectangular block made of clay or mud used to build walls and houses.

For teachers: a rectangular unit of clay or similar material, hardened by sun or fire and used in masonry construction.

- The workers laid each brick carefully to make sure the wall was straight.
- The architect specified reclaimed red brick for the exterior to ensure the new extension blended seamlessly with the original Victorian structure.

### 2. broken electronic device

noun · CEFR C1 · Informal · Slang

a piece of electronic equipment, like a phone, that no longer works at all.

For teachers: an electronic device that has become completely non-functional, typically due to a corrupted firmware update or hardware failure.

- My phone turned into a brick after I tried to install the unofficial software.
- After the failed BIOS flash, the expensive gaming laptop was reduced to a literal brick, requiring a professional motherboard replacement.

### 3. basketball miss

noun · CEFR C1 · Slang

a shot in basketball that hits the rim or backboard hard and misses.

For teachers: a basketball shot that misses the basket entirely or bounces off the rim with a flat, heavy trajectory.

- He threw up a brick in the final seconds of the game.
- The crowd groaned as the star player launched a brick that hit the front of the rim and bounced halfway back to mid-court.

### 4. to build with bricks

verb · CEFR B2

to build a wall or close an opening using bricks.

For teachers: to construct, line, or pave with bricks; often used with 'up' to mean closing an opening.

- They decided to brick up the old fireplace to save space in the room.
- The city council voted to brick the pedestrian walkway using traditional patterns to match the historic district's aesthetic.

### 5. to break a device

verb · CEFR C1 · Informal · Slang · Technical

to accidentally make a computer or phone stop working forever by changing its software.

For teachers: to render an electronic device permanently non-functional through a software error or failed update.

- Be careful when updating the system, or you might brick your tablet.
- The developer warned that attempting to bypass the security protocols could easily brick the device, voiding the warranty in the process.

### 6. very cold

adjective · CEFR C2 · American English · Dialect · Slang

a slang way to say the weather is extremely cold.

For teachers: a regional colloquialism describing weather that is intensely or bitterly cold.

- Make sure you wear a heavy coat today because it is brick outside.
- I wasn't prepared for how brick it gets in the city during February, especially with the wind coming off the river.

## Examples

- The phone became a brick after the update failed.
- I tried to install a custom operating system on my tablet, but a power outage during the process turned it into a brick.
- While most software glitches are easily rectified with a factory reset, a corrupted bootloader can effectively turn an expensive piece of hardware into a useless brick.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.