brick-and-mortar

adjective

brick-and-mor·​tar ˈbrik-ən(d)-ˈmȯr-tər 

variants or bricks-and-mortar

: relating to or being a traditional business serving customers in a building as contrasted to an online business

a brick-and-mortar store

Examples of brick-and-mortar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As those capabilities grew, the company expanded and later agreed to acquire Mattress Firm, one of the largest brick-and-mortar mattress retailers in the United States. — Adam Barker, Forbes.com, 5 Oct. 2026

The Josephs' home state of Tennessee, where the GOP has a lock on state government, is among a growing number looking to outlaw companies that own PBMs from also owning brick-and-mortar pharmacies, as CVS does. — Blake Farmer, NPR, 5 Oct. 2026

Djerf Avenue has landed in downtown New York City with the opening of its first brick-and-mortar store on Saturday. — Emily Mercer, Footwear News, 3 Oct. 2026

Pitchside Coffee opened its first brick-and-mortar location last year inside a 5,000-square foot space at 1819 Grand Blvd. — Kansas City Star, 1 Oct. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1975, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for brick-and-mortar

• colporteur
• exporter
• headquarter
• importer
• reporter
• supporter
• transporter
• mortar
• quarter
• shorter
• sorter