Buildup

How to spell buildup

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce buildup

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does buildup mean?

1. nounA gradual increase or accumulation of something over time.
2. nounA period of promotion or anticipation that precedes an event.

Buildup in a sentence

• The buildup of limescale in the kettle slowed it down.

• The long buildup to the product launch raised customer expectations.

• Engineers monitored the slow buildup of pressure inside the tank.

• After weeks of buildup, the final match felt slightly underwhelming.

Where does buildup come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This noun is a compound formed from the verb 'build' and the particle 'up'. 'Build' descends from the Old English byldan, meaning 'to construct a dwelling', which itself grew from bold, an Old English word for a house or building. The particle 'up' has always carried the sense of an increasing or rising amount, so pairing it with 'build' produced the idea of something steadily accumulating. The closed, single-word noun spelling emerged in the twentieth century as the phrasal verb 'to build up' was nominalised, first commonly in military and journalistic contexts for a gathering of forces or growing publicity. The spelling trap is simply deciding whether to write it as one word, two words, or hyphenated; as a noun the solid form 'buildup' is the most common modern choice, while the verb stays two words ('build up').

How the word is built

• build (from Old English byldan: to construct)
• up (adverb/particle), forming a noun for an accumulation or increase