English

Alternative forms

• brick-and-mortar
• bricks and mortar, bricks-and-mortar

Adjective

brick and mortar ‎(not comparable)

1. (business) Buildings and property for the conduct of business, particularly in the sale of retail goods to the general public. (Used to contrast an Internet-based sales operation that lacks customer-oriented store fronts and a "traditional" one for which most capital investment might be in the building infrastructure.) [since the mid-1990s]

   Brick and mortar retail stores face online competition.

   • 2000, Judy Kong, in a report on the ICE Conference, "Non Traditional Clicks and Mortar Businesses: (Dinosaurs) Learn to Fly":

     E-commerce is not the kiss of death for big, traditional brick-and-mortar business.

Usage notes

• Often used attributively, especially in the form brick-and-mortar.

Translations

Noun

brick and mortar ‎(uncountable)

1. Used other than as an idiom: see brick,‎ and,‎ mortar.
2. (Britain) Buildings, especially domestic housing.