How it works
The parts of a brick are few: the beds it is laid on, the frog pressed into one of them and the sharp arrises along its edges. Most brick words name how a brick is cut or laid, so both are drawn here too.
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One brick, and four ways to cut it
A brick is laid on its bed, the broad side. Many have a frog, a hollow that the mortar fills. The edges are arrises. Cut across the middle, a brick is a half bat; cut a little shorter, a three-quarter bat. Split lengthwise it is a queen closer, and with a corner sliced off, a king closer.
Six positions in a wall
The tinted side is the one that shows. Flat with the long side showing is a stretcher; flat with the end showing, a header. Stood on end it is a soldier, or a sailor if the broad side shows. On its narrow edge it is a rowlock with the end showing, or a shiner with the broad side showing.
- Rowlock is also spelled rolok, and a shiner is also called a rowlock stretcher.
Questions and answers
What are the parts of a brick called?
The two broad sides are the beds. The hollow in a bed is the frog. The sharp edges are arrises. The long narrow side is the one that shows in a stretcher, and the short end is the one that shows in a header.
What is the frog in a brick?
A depression pressed into one bed, or both. Mortar fills it and locks the brick in place. A brick with one is a frogged brick; a plain one is a solid brick.
What are the six positions of a brick?
Stretcher, header, soldier, sailor, rowlock and shiner. The name says which side shows in the wall and whether the brick lies flat, stands on end or rests on its narrow edge.
What is a queen closer?
A brick cut in half along its length, so it is as long as a whole brick and half as wide. It is often laid near a corner to create the lap between one course and the next.