BUILDING


Meaning of BUILDING in English

build ‧ ing S1 W1 /ˈbɪldɪŋ/ BrE AmE noun

[ Word Family: noun : ↑ build , ↑ builder , ↑ building ; verb : ↑ build , ↑ rebuild ; adjective : ↑ built ]

1 . [countable] a structure such as a house, church, or factory, that has a roof and walls:

The offices are on the top two floors of the building.

a farmhouse and other farm buildings

2 . [uncountable] the process or business of building things ⇨ construction :

There is a limited supply of land for building.

stone, timber, and other building materials

building of

The enquiry recommended the building of a tunnel.

• • •

COLLOCATIONS

■ verbs

▪ put up a building ( also erect a building formal )

They keep pulling down the old buildings and putting up new ones.

▪ pull down/knock down/tear down a building

All the medieval buildings were torn down.

▪ demolish/destroy a building (=pull it down)

Permission is needed to demolish listed buildings.

■ ADJECTIVES/NOUN + building

▪ a tall building

The park was surrounded by tall buildings.

▪ a high-rise building (=very tall with many floors)

a New York high-rise building

▪ a low building

That low building is a stable block.

▪ an office/school/hospital etc building

Our office building is just ten minutes’ walk from where I live.

▪ a public building

The town has a number of interesting public buildings, including the old town hall.

▪ a beautiful building ( also a fine/handsome building British English )

The old station was a fine building, but has sadly been demolished.

▪ an impressive/imposing building

the impressive buildings around the town’s central square

▪ a brick/stone/wooden building

The farmhouse is a long stone building about a century old.

▪ a two-storey/three-storey etc building (=with two, three etc floors)

Our villa was a delightful two-storey building.

▪ a single-storey/one-storey building (=with only one floor)

▪ a historic building (=an old building of historical interest)

Most of the historic buildings are from the 18th century.

▪ a listed building British English (=a historic building that is protected by a government order)

The school is actually a listed building.

▪ a derelict building (=empty and in very bad condition)

Near the canal there are a number of derelict buildings.

▪ a dilapidated building (=in bad condition)

He rented an apartment at the top of a dilapidated building in Paris.

▪ a ramshackle building ( also a tumbledown building British English ) (=old and almost falling down)

The farm was surrounded by tumbledown buildings.

• • •

THESAURUS

▪ building a structure such as a house, church, or factory, that has a roof and walls:

The college needs money to pay for new buildings.

▪ property formal a building or piece of land, or both together - used especially when talking about buying and selling buildings or land:

The next property they looked at was too small.

|

The company received permission to build six residential properties on the land.

▪ premises formal the buildings and land that a shop, restaurant, company etc uses:

You are not allowed to drink alcohol on the premises.

|

The bread is baked on the premises.

▪ complex a group of buildings, or a large building with many parts, used for a particular purpose:

The town has one of the best leisure complexes in the country.

|

a luxury apartment complex

▪ development a group of new buildings that have all been planned and built together on the same piece of land:

a new housing development

|

a huge industrial development

▪ block especially British English a large tall building that contains apartments or offices, or is part of a school, university, or hospital:

an office block

|

a block of flats

|

a tower block (=a very tall building - often used disapprovingly)

|

My next lecture is in the science block.

▪ facility especially American English a place or building used for a particular activity or industry:

a research facility on campus

▪ edifice formal a large building, especially one that is tall and impressive - a very formal use:

Their head office was an imposing edifice.

▪ structure formal something that has been made to stand upright - used especially when talking about buildings:

The stone arch is one of the town’s oldest existing structures.

|

an immense barn-like structure

|

Mogul calls this building, designed by Donald and John Parkinson in 1928, ‘the most important structure in Los Angeles of the 20th century.’

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.