What does bricking mean?
Bricking is the noun form denoting bricks taken collectively as a building material, as well as the act or process of building or facing structures with them. A mason might speak of the bricking on a facade or spend the day bricking up a disused window, sealing it behind courses of mortar and clay. The word derives from "brick," which entered Middle English from Old French and ultimately traces back through Germanic sources. In modern informal English, bricking has acquired a vivid technological meaning: when a software update fails catastrophically, a phone, router, or console may be described as "bricked," rendered as inert and useless as its namesake. This figurative sense has become especially common in consumer electronics discussions, where it signals permanent, often irrecoverable damage. Whether describing sturdy masonry or a dead gadget, bricking conveys solidity turned to obstruction — something built up, or shut down for good.
Bricks collectively, regarded as a material used in construction; also, the action or result of building or facing with bricks.
"The cottage's weathered red bricking dated back to the eighteenth century."
Often interchangeable with "brickwork" in construction contexts, though "brickwork" is preferred in formal architectural description.
Present participle of "to brick": to wall up, enclose, or pave with bricks; in informal computing usage, to render an electronic device completely inoperable.
"They are bricking over the old fireplace opening to create a flat wall."
The computing sense is informal and almost always negative, since a bricked device typically cannot be repaired by the user.
Rarely pluralized; as a mass noun referring to material, "bricking" normally appears only in the singular.
"The survey noted several distinct brickings added to the structure over the centuries."
In tech slang, "bricking" a gadget means turning it into a literal brick — expensive, useless, and good only for propping open a door.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bricking
Bricking derives from "brick," a word that entered English in the late Middle English period from Old French "brique," likely borrowed from a Germanic source related to Middle Dutch "bricke." The suffix "-ing" forms both verbal nouns (the action of laying bricks) and mass nouns (the material itself), following a productive Germanic pattern. Cognates appear across Romance languages, such as French "brique," reflecting the shared medieval borrowing. The modern computing sense of "bricking" is a twentieth-century coinage, arising by analogy from the shape and uselessness of an actual brick.
How bricking is actually used
As a mass noun meaning brick as material, "bricking" is somewhat less common than "brickwork" in formal architectural writing and appears mainly in trade and regional usage. The verbal sense "bricking up" (sealing an opening with bricks) is standard British and American English. The computing sense — a device being "bricked" — is informal but widespread in technology contexts, and it carries strongly negative connotations since the damage is usually irreversible.
Easily confused with bricking
"Brick" refers to a single rectangular block or, as slang, to an electronic device that has stopped working, while "bricking" refers either to bricks as collective material or to the gerund of the verb "to brick" (to wall up or, in slang, to render a device unusable).
"Brickwork" is the standard term for constructed masonry of bricks, whereas "bricking" more often denotes the material itself or the ongoing action of laying or applying bricks.