Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Brick?

\Brick\, n. [OE. brik, F. brique; of Ger. origin; cf. AS. brice a breaking, fragment, Prov. E. brique piece, brique de pain, equiv. to AS. hl[=a]fes brice, fr. the root of E. break. See {Break}.] 1. A block or clay tempered with water, sand, etc., molded into a regular form, usually rectangular, and sun-dried, or burnt in a kiln, or in a heap or stack called a clamp. The Assyrians appear to have made much less use of bricks baked in the furnace than the Babylonians. --Layard. 2. Bricks, collectively, as designating that kind of material; as, a load of brick; a thousand of brick. Some of Palladio's finest examples are of brick. --Weale. 3. Any oblong rectangular mass; as, a brick of maple sugar; a penny brick (of bread). 4. A good fellow; a merry person; as, you 're a brick. [Slang] ``He 's a dear little brick.'' --Thackeray. {To have a brick in one's hat}, to be drunk. [Slang] Note: Brick is used adjectively or in combination; as, brick wall; brick clay; brick color; brick red. {Brick clay}, clay suitable for, or used in making, bricks. {Brick dust}, dust of pounded or broken bricks. {Brick earth}, clay or earth suitable for, or used in making, bricks. {Brick loaf}, a loaf of bread somewhat resembling a brick in shape. {Brick nogging} (Arch.), rough brickwork used to fill in the spaces between the uprights of a wooden partition; brick filling. {Brick tea}, tea leaves and young shoots, or refuse tea, steamed or mixed with fat, etc., and pressed into the form of bricks. It is used in Northern and Central Asia. --S. W. Williams. {Brick trimmer} (Arch.), a brick arch under a hearth, usually within the thickness of a wooden floor, to guard against accidents by fire. {Brick trowel}. See {Trowel}. {Brick works}, a place where bricks are made. {Bath brick}. See under {Bath}, a city. {Pressed brick}, bricks which, before burning, have been subjected to pressure, to free them from the imperfections of shape and texture which are common in molded bricks.
\Brick\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Bricked}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Bricking}.] 1. To lay or pave with bricks; to surround, line, or construct with bricks. 2. To imitate or counterfeit a brick wall on, as by smearing plaster with red ocher, making the joints with an edge tool, and pointing them. {To brick up}, to fill up, inclose, or line, with brick.