Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Constructed as part of a larger unit; not detachable.
  • adjective Forming a permanent or essential element or quality.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective constructed as a non-detachable part of a larger structure
  • adjective being an essential and permanent part of something
  • adjective of an included feature that normally comes as an extra

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective existing as an essential constituent or characteristic

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • These so-called built-in stabilizers increase the deficit but limit declines of after-tax income and purchasing power, economists Kenneth Arrow, Peter Diamond, William Sharpe, Eric Maskin and Robert Solow wrote.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • These so-called built-in stabilizers increase the deficit but limit declines of after-tax income and purchasing power, economists Kenneth Arrow, Peter Diamond, William Sharpe, Eric Maskin and Robert Solow wrote.

    KansasCity.com: Front Page 2011

  • In Old English, word endings conveyed which creature is doing the biting and which is being bitten, so there was built-in flexibility for word order.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • In Old English, word endings conveyed which creature is doing the biting and which is being bitten, so there was built-in flexibility for word order.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • It has held without the built-in assurances provided by a parliamentary system.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • So this writing system has a built-in appeal for writers and readers spread over vast areas—say, the entire planet—across which such variations range widely, even wildly.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • It has held without the built-in assurances provided by a parliamentary system.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

  • So this writing system has a built-in appeal for writers and readers spread over vast areas—say, the entire planet—across which such variations range widely, even wildly.

    The English Is Coming! Leslie Dunton-Downer 2010

  • The second mystery concerns how you have a built-in mechanism that enables you to be moved by something outside your control.

    The Bushman Way of Tracking God PhD Bradford Keeney 2010

  • It has held without the built-in assurances provided by a parliamentary system.

    The Good Fight Walter F. Mondale 2010

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