Meaning & use

brick

noun·Everyday

A rectangular block of baked clay or similar material used to build walls and other structures.

See it in a sentence

The workers stacked the bricks neatly before starting to build the garden wall.

His old phone stopped working entirely and became nothing more than a useless brick.

A note on using this word

Informally, 'to brick' a device means to render it completely unusable, usually after a failed software update.

Words with a similar meaning

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Another way to use it

2. verb

Informal: to render an electronic device permanently unusable, typically through a failed update.

A bad firmware update accidentally bricked hundreds of the company's routers overnight.

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