The act of destroying a device's core software or bootloader, making it as useless as a literal brick. This typically happens when power is lost during a firmware flash or when an incompatible ROM is loaded. While some devices can be recovered via low-level hardware flashing, a true brick requires replacing the mainboard or the memory chip itself.
Heard on the job
Make sure the battery is fully charged before you flash that new BIOS, or you risk bricking the whole board.
Related terms
Firm error
A data or logic fault that persists until the system is rebooted or power-cycled.
Hard error
A permanent hardware failure that cannot be resolved by rebooting or power-cycling the system.
Factory reset
A software or hardware command that wipes all user data and restores a device to its original configuration.