brick

bang your head against a brick wall: seehead.

a brick short of a load (of a person) stupid. informal

☞ This is one of a number of humorous variations on the theme of someone not possessing their proper share of brains or intelligence; compare, for example, with a sandwich short of a picnic (atsandwich).

be bricking it be extremely apprehensive. informal

☞ The expression is a euphemistic condensation of be shitting bricks (seeshit).

2005The Press (York) If I was going to be on my own, I'd be bricking it but there are six of us, we're all part of a team, so we'll be sharing the experience, and I'm happy with that.

be built like a brick shithouse: seeshithouse.

bricks and mortar

1 buildings, typically houses.

2 a house considered in terms of its value as an investment.

3 used as a modifier to denote a business that operates conventionally rather than (or as well as) over the Internet.

❶ 2012The Age Much of the cost of child-care fees includes the cost of land and bricks and mortar, that is land and buildings that have to be acquired to provide a dedicated child-care facility.

❸2013New Zealand Herald While in bricks and mortar stores most of the year's Christmas sales happen in the few weeks before December 25, in digital the holiday rush tends to happen earlier.

come down like a ton of bricks exert crushing weight, force, or authority against someone. informal

come up against (or hit) a brick wall encounter an insuperable problem or obstacle while trying to do something.

drop a brick: seedrop.

hit the bricks go on strike. US informal

make bricks without straw try to accomplish something without proper or adequate material, equipment, or information.

☞ The allusion here is to Exodus 5:6–19 where 'without straw' meant 'without having straw provided', as the Israelites were required to gather straw for themselves in order to make the bricks required by their Egyptian taskmasters. A misinterpretation has led to the current sense.

be shitting bricks: seeshit.