One way to hold this word: something being added, a little at a time, until there is a lot of it. One car, then another, then a hundred, and the road is thick with traffic. One day of dust, then a month, and there is a grey layer on the fan. The word does not look at the last piece added; it looks at the whole slow gathering, and at how much is there now. English uses the same shape for time piling up before a big day, and for praise piling up before someone walks on stage.
From the word’s history
The dictionary record for this entry says build-up is formed from the phrasal verb build up. The verb names the action of adding piece on piece; the noun packages that action, or the amount it has produced, into one thing you can talk about.
這個字條的來源資料寫著：build-up 是從片語動詞 build up 變來的名詞。動詞講的是「一層一層加上去」這個動作；名詞則把那個過程，或那個已經積起來的量，包成一個可以拿來講的東西。
Wiktionary entry for build-up (noun), etymology_text "Deverbal from build up.", packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1844135268
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原始詞典資料1 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
這個拼法也被記錄為下列字的變化形：
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。