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Synonyms

build on

Idioms  

  1. Also, build upon. Add as an extension; use as a basis or foundation. For example, They decided to build on an addition, or She was building all her hopes on passing the exam. John Locke had this idiom in his treatise on government (1689): “Sovereignty built on ‘property’ . . . comes to nothing.” [Late 1600s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It builds on the investments that Zurich has made in developing its market-leading Specialty franchise, which wrote approximately $9 billion of specialty gross written premiums as of Dec. 31, the insurer said.

From The Wall Street Journal

Strong public demand is expected to drive growth, building on solid expansion in the third quarter, Westpac added.

From The Wall Street Journal

The results of the trial build on two prior studies in different forms of the disease.

From The Wall Street Journal

The Dubai media office confirmed an "incident" in a building on the Palm Jumeirah caused a fire and injured four people.

From Barron's

Zhou's latest work builds on earlier discoveries about genetic switches inside cells.

From Science Daily

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.