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Glite Dictionary
to brick in

to brick in

1 7.0
To close an opening by building a wall of bricks across it
  • phrasal verb
  • /brɪk ɪn/
: cerrar con ladrillos
  • Despite their best efforts, neo-Nazis and revisionists hit a brick wall in the West.

Examples

  • This time, the right side wall was also completely bricked in.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • They showed him how to create one from a recess behind a loose brick in a wall, or under a tombstone, in a crevice in an old tree, or beneath a flagstone.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The builders bricked in the old door to improve the building's security.

  • After the renovation, they bricked in the unused fireplace to create more space.

  • During the remodeling, the contractors bricked in the large window to enhance insulation.

Synonyms

to plug
vsto brick in
66 1.9

To put something into a hole to stop a flow

closes openings by building a solid barrier across them instead of just filling
to wall
vsto brick in
41 6.4

To surround an area with a wall to protect it

closes an opening across its gap rather than surrounding or defending an area
to wall in
vsto brick in
7 5.8

To build a barrier around something to keep people in or keep others out

closes a single opening by building a barrier across it, not surrounding
to wall up
vsto brick in
3 6.1

Close an opening by building a wall across it

builds the barrier from small uniform blocks rather than any material
to brick up
vsto brick in
2 5.2

To close an opening by building a solid wall of blocks

is the same action but uses a different verb phrasing
to brick over
vsto brick in
1 6.7

To close an opening like a door or window by building a brick wall across it

is the same closing action but differs in word choice
to infill
vsto brick in
  • Specialized
1 5.6

To fill a space with material or build on empty land between buildings in a city

specifically closes an opening by building a barrier across it, not general filling
to walled
vsto brick in
4.1

To build a wall around something to protect or separate it

refers to actively closing an opening by building a barrier across it rather than result

Antonyms

to open
∞ 1.0

To lead into another room or space

Surface Forms

brick in infinitive
bricked in past
bricked in past participle
bricking in present participle
bricks in third person singular

Morphology

brick + in

The meaning 'to close off or fill an opening by building a wall of bricks' is directly and literally built from 'brick' (building block) plus the particle 'in' indicating enclosure/inside; the compositional action (to put bricks in/into an opening) is predictable. This follows common verb+particle patterns (cf. 'wall in', 'brick up') and is likely inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

The verb brick in comes from the literal act of building a wall of brick across a door or window. When people literally brick in a space they close it off by filling it with bricks, so the phrase means 'to close off or fill an opening'.