1
general::
Phrase(s): bricks and mortar
buildings; the expenditure of money on buildings rather than something else. (The buildings referred to can be constructed out of anything.) • The new president of the college preferred to invest in new faculty members rather than bricks and mortar. • Sometimes people are happy to donate millions of dollars for bricks and mortar, but they never think of the additional cost of annual maintenance.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
Basic and essential, as in Matthew Arnold's essay (1865): "Margate, that bricks-and-mortar image of British Protestantism." This phrase transfers essential building materials to other fundamental matters. It Also may be used more literally to denote a building or buildings (whether or not made of bricks and mortar), as in The alumni prefer to see their donations in the form of bricks and mortar. [Mid-1800s]
American Heritage Idioms