brick

Everyday

1. A brick is a hard block made of baked clay, used to build walls and houses. tree →
2. Brick is the material: «a brick house». tree →
3. A toy brick is a building block. tree →
4. To brick up a gap is to fill it with bricks. tree →
5. «You're a brick» is an old way to say someone is very kind and helpful. tree →

In the lessons

things counted in rows and layers; weight or price of bricks; in history and science: bricks are made from clay fired in a kiln, and building materials are chosen for strength; in stories: the third little pig built his house of bricks; phrases: «brick by brick» (step by step), «a brick wall»

Examples

• A wall has 20 rows of 15 bricks. tree →
• Each brick weighs 3 kg. tree →
• He lays 200 bricks an hour. tree →
• How many bricks are left? tree →
• The third little pig built his house of bricks. tree →
• Our school is an old red brick building. tree →
• They built the wall brick by brick. tree →
• The toddler stacked his toy bricks into a tower. tree →
• It was built of red brick, with projecting gables. tree →

Note

Rows × bricks per row; rate per hour × hours. Bricks left = bricks at the start − bricks used. Countable: a brick, two bricks; «brick» as material is uncountable (made of brick).

In Jewish tradition

Bricks are the clay blocks the Israelites made as slaves in Egypt. The Torah also mentions bricks at Babel, where people built a tower. In Isaiah, burning incense on bricks is a pagan practice, and fallen bricks are a picture of ruin and proud rebuilding.

Interpretation. Passover tells of the slaves making bricks, and the charoset eaten at the seder, a mix of fruit and nuts, recalls the mortar and bricks. Isaiah blames people for burning incense on bricks, which the tradition reads as wrong worship, and for boasting they will rebuild in stone after ruin.

Examples

• 'Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore. (Torah EXO.5.7, JPS 1917) tree →
• Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.' (Torah EXO.5.18, JPS 1917) tree →
• And they said one to another: 'Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. (Torah GEN.11.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• A people that provoke Me to My face continually, that sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon bricks; (Prophets ISA.65.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• 'The bricks are fallen, but we will build with hewn stones; the sycamores are cut down, but cedars will we put in their place.' (Prophets ISA.9.9, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Rows × bricks per row; rate per hour × hours. Bricks left = bricks at the start − bricks used. Countable: a brick, two bricks; «brick» as material is uncountable (made of brick).