Meaning & use
brick and mortar
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Meanings
adjectivebefore a nounbusiness
Relating to a business that operates from a physical building where customers can visit, rather than only online.
Grammar: Goes before a noun: brick-and-mortar stores.
Patterns
- a brick-and-mortar store
Many brick-and-mortar stores have closed as shopping moved online.
She opened a brick-and-mortar shop after years of online sales.
Brick-and-mortar retailers still offer in-person service.
noununcountableinformal
Physical shops and buildings as a category, in contrast with internet businesses.
Grammar: Used as a general noun: brick and mortar is struggling.
Patterns
- online versus brick and mortar
Brick and mortar still matters for items people want to try on.
The chain is shifting from brick and mortar to online.
Common combinations
- brick-and-mortar store
- The brick-and-mortar store has a bigger range.
- brick-and-mortar retailer
- Each brick-and-mortar retailer faces online competition.
- brick-and-mortar business
- They started with a brick-and-mortar business.
- brick-and-mortar location
- The brand plans a brick-and-mortar location in Boston.
Synonyms and how they differ
- physical
- A general word, not specific to retail.
- in-store
- Focuses on the shopping act, not the business type.
Opposites
Word family
- click-and-mortar adjective
- having both online and physical shops
Commonly confused: brick and mortar or bricks and mortar?
brick and mortar vs bricks and mortar
In British English, 'bricks and mortar' also means property or buildings, such as when buying a home.
Practice
Which business is brick and mortar?
Choose one answer.
Brick and mortar means a physical building; the others are online-only.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “brick and mortar”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.