also buildup, build up
( build-ups)
1.
A build-up is a gradual increase in something.
There has been a build-up of troops on both sides of the border...
The disease can also cause a build up of pressure in the inner ear leading to severe earache.
N-COUNT : usu sing , oft N of n
2.
The build-up to an event is the way that journalists, advertisers, or other people talk about it a lot in the period of time immediately before it, and try to make it seem important and exciting.
The exams came, almost an anti-climax after the build-up that the students had given them.
N-COUNT : usu sing , oft N to n