A high-quality brick used for facing buildings, etc., a facing-brick; (also) these collectively as a building material, especially when masking an inferior one; face-work of brick.
Origin
Early 19th century.
Definition of face-brick in US English:
face-brick
noun
US
A high-quality brick used for facing buildings, etc., a facing-brick; (also) these collectively as a building material, especially when masking an inferior one; face-work of brick.