The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Build \Build\ (b[i^]ld), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Built (b[i^]lt);
   p. pr. & vb. n. Building. The regular imp. & p. p.
   Builded is antiquated.] [OE. bulden, bilden, AS. byldan to
   build, fr. bold house; cf. Icel. b[=o]l farm, abode, Dan. bol
   small farm, OSw. bol, b["o]le, house, dwelling, fr. root of
   Icel. b[=u]a to dwell; akin to E. be, bower, boor. [root]97.]
   1. To erect or construct, as an edifice or fabric of any
      kind; to form by uniting materials into a regular
      structure; to fabricate; to make; to raise.
      [1913 Webster]

            Nor aught availed him now
            To have built in heaven high towers.  --Milton.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. To raise or place on a foundation; to form, establish, or
      produce by using appropriate means.
      [1913 Webster]

            Who builds his hopes in air of your good looks.
                                                  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. To increase and strengthen; to increase the power and
      stability of; to settle, or establish, and preserve; --
      frequently with up; as, to build up one's constitution.
      [1913 Webster]

            I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace,
            which is able to build you up.        --Acts xx. 32.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: To erect; construct; raise; found; frame.
        [1913 Webster]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Building \Build"ing\, n.
   1. The act of constructing, erecting, or establishing.
      [1913 Webster]

            Hence it is that the building of our Sion rises no
            faster.                               --Bp. Hall.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The art of constructing edifices, or the practice of civil
      architecture.
      [1913 Webster]

            The execution of works of architecture necessarily
            includes building; but building is frequently
            employed when the result is not architectural.
                                                  --Hosking.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. That which is built; a fabric or edifice constructed, as a
      house, a church, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

            Thy sumptuous buildings and thy wife's attire
            Have cost a mass of public treasury.  --Shak.
      [1913 Webster] buildup

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

building
    n 1: a structure that has a roof and walls and stands more or
         less permanently in one place; "there was a three-story
         building on the corner"; "it was an imposing edifice" [syn:
         building, edifice]
    2: the act of constructing something; "during the construction
       we had to take a detour"; "his hobby was the building of
       boats" [syn: construction, building]
    3: the commercial activity involved in repairing old structures
       or constructing new ones; "their main business is home
       construction"; "workers in the building trades" [syn:
       construction, building]
    4: the occupants of a building; "the entire building complained
       about the noise"

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

130 Moby Thesaurus words for "building":
   Dymaxion house, White House, adobe house, anatomy, architectonics,
   architecture, arrangement, assemblage, assembly, build, buildup,
   casa, casting, cliff dwelling, combination, composition, compound,
   conformation, constitution, construct, construction, consulate,
   conversion, country house, country seat, crafting, craftsmanship,
   creation, cultivation, dacha, deanery, devising, dwelling house,
   edifice, elaboration, embassy, embodiment, erection, establishment,
   extraction, fabric, fabrication, farm, farmhouse, fashion,
   fashioning, forging, form, format, formation, forming, formulation,
   frame, framing, getup, growing, hall, handicraft, handiwork,
   harvesting, house, houseboat, hut, incorporation, junction,
   lake dwelling, living machine, lodge, machining, make, makeup,
   making, manor house, manse, manufacture, manufacturing, milling,
   mining, mixture, mold, molding, organic structure, organism,
   organization, packaged house, parsonage, pattern, patterning,
   penthouse, physique, piecing together, pile, plan, prefab,
   prefabricated house, prefabrication, preparation,
   presidential palace, processing, producing, production,
   putting together, pyramid, raising, ranch house, rectory, refining,
   roof, setup, shape, shaping, skyscraper, smelting, sod house,
   split-level, structure, structuring, superstructure, syneresis,
   synthesis, tectonics, texture, tissue, tower, town house, vicarage,
   warp and woof, weave, web, workmanship



Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Building
   among the Jews was suited to the climate and conditions of the
   country. They probably adopted the kind of architecture for
   their dwellings which they found already existing when they
   entered Canaan (Deut. 6:10; Num. 13:19). Phoenician artists (2
   Sam. 5:11; 1 Kings 5:6, 18) assisted at the erection of the
   royal palace and the temple at Jerusalem. Foreigners also
   assisted at the restoration of the temple after the Exile (Ezra
   3:7).

     In Gen. 11:3, 9, we have the first recorded instance of the
   erection of buildings. The cities of the plain of Shinar were
   founded by the descendants of Shem (10:11, 12, 22).

     The Israelites were by occupation shepherds and dwellers in
   tents (Gen. 47:3); but from the time of their entering Canaan
   they became dwellers in towns, and in houses built of the native
   limestone of Palestine. Much building was carried on in
   Solomon's time. Besides the buildings he completed at Jerusalem,
   he also built Baalath and Tadmor (1 Kings 9:15, 24). Many of the
   kings of Israel and Judah were engaged in erecting various
   buildings.

     Herod and his sons and successors restored the temple, and
   built fortifications and other structures of great magnificence
   in Jerusalem (Luke 21:5).

     The instruments used in building are mentioned as the
   plumb-line (Amos 7:7), the measuring-reed (Ezek. 40:3), and the
   saw (1 Kings 7:9).

     Believers are "God's building" (1 Cor. 3:9); and heaven is
   called "a building of God" (2 Cor. 5:1). Christ is the only
   foundation of his church (1 Cor. 3:10-12), of which he also is
   the builder (Matt. 16:18).


Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

BUILDING, estates. An edifice erected by art, and fixed upon or over the
soil, composed of stone, brick, marble, wood, or other proper substance,
'Connected together, and designed for use in the position in which it is so
fixed. Every building is an accessory to the soil, and is, therefore, real
estate: it belongs to the owner of the soil. Cruise, tit. 1, S. 46. Vide 1
Chit. Pr. 148, 171; Salk. 459; Hob. 131; 1 Mete. 258; Broom's  Max. 172.