buildbuild /bɪld/ verb (past tensepst and past participlepp built /bɪlt/) [transitiveT]1MANUFACTURINGto make or put together large things such as buildings, cars, ships, roads etcNew offices are being built on the site.
No new ships are being built at the yard now.
Sales of cars built in the US are falling.
2COMMERCE (also build up) to create something over a long period of time by adding to it graduallya peasant’s son who built an enormous business empire
He built the company into one of the world’s biggest jewelery concerns.
The drugs company has built up a formidable sales force.
The government has recently built up currency reserves by buying U.S. dollars.
3LAWwhen lawyers build a case, they put together facts, information etc to try to convince a court that someone is innocent or guiltyHe said prosecutors had built a case based on circumstantial evidence (=evidence that can make you believe that something happened, but does not prove that it did).