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Antonyms for build
| Grammar : Noun, verb |
| Spell : bild |
| Phonetic Transcription : bɪld |
- abridge
- complete
- compress
- conclude
- condense
- contract
- curtail
- decelerate
- decrease
- degrade
- demolish
- destroy
- die
- diminish
- discourage
- dismantle
- disperse
- divide
- end
- finish
- halt
- hurt
- knock down
- lessen
- lower
- mind
- neglect
- overthrow
- overturn
- raze
- reduce
- ruin
- scatter
- separate
- shorten
- shrink
- stop
- take down
- weaken
- wreck
Definition of build
Origin :- late Old English byldan "construct a house," verb form of bold "house," from Proto-Germanic *buthlam (cf. Old Saxon bodl, Old Frisian bodel "building, house"), from PIE *bhu- "to dwell," from root *bheue- "to be, exist, grow" (see be). Rare in Old English; in Middle English it won out over more common Old English timbran (see timber). Modern spelling is unexplained. Figurative use from mid-15c. Of physical things other than buildings from late 16c. Related: Builded (archaic); built; building.
- In the United States, this verb is used with much more latitude than in England. There, as Fennimore Cooper puts it, everything is BUILT. The priest BUILDS up a flock; the speculator a fortune; the lawyer a reputation; the landlord a town; and the tailor, as in England, BUILDS up a suit of clothes. A fire is BUILT instead of made, and the expression is even extended to individuals, to be BUILT being used with the meaning of formed. [Farmer, "Slang and Its Analogues," 1890]
- noun physical structure, form
- verb construct structure
- verb initiate, found
- verb increase, accelerate
- She's one of the build that aren't so big as they look, nor yet so small as they look.
- Extract from : « The Spenders » by Harry Leon Wilson
- You pull down, you despoil; but they build up, they restore.
- Extract from : « The White Company » by Arthur Conan Doyle
- Lines 44 and 45 announce Marduk's determination to build Babylon.
- Extract from : « The Babylonian Legends of the Creation » by British Museum
- Anything upon which men can build themselves into moral strength?
- Extract from : « Understanding the Scriptures » by Francis McConnell
- The man whom you praise wrested it from me to build this church.
- Extract from : « Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II » by Charlotte Mary Yonge
- Fragments of knowledge came to him, but nothing on which to build a theory of what was wrong.
- Extract from : « The Leopard Woman » by Stewart Edward White
- There's that in his heart which can tear and rend; and there's that which can build.
- Extract from : « Dust » by Mr. and Mrs. Haldeman-Julius
- But, before setting out, they all helped Phoenix to build a habitation.
- Extract from : « Tanglewood Tales » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
- When he's got that, no matter what else he lacks, you've got something to build on.
- Extract from : « The Underdog » by F. Hopkinson Smith
- Go to Argus, the shipbuilder, and bid him build a galley with fifty oars.
- Extract from : « Tanglewood Tales » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Synonyms for build
- aggrandize
- amplify
- assemble
- augment
- base
- begin
- body
- boost
- bring about
- carpenter
- cast
- compile
- compose
- compound
- conformation
- constitute
- constitution
- contrive
- develop
- engineer
- enlarge
- erect
- escalate
- establish
- evolve
- expand
- extend
- fabricate
- fashion
- figure
- fit together
- forge
- form
- formulate
- frame
- habit
- habitus
- heighten
- improve
- inaugurate
- institute
- intensify
- jerry-build
- knock together
- magnify
- make
- manufacture
- model
- mount
- multiply
- originate
- physique
- prefabricate
- produce
- put together
- put up
- raise
- rear
- reconstruct
- sculpture
- set up
- shape
- start
- strengthen
- superstruct
- swell
- synthesize
- throw together
- throw up
- wax
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019