building society
n.
Chiefly British
A savings and loan association.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2006
building society:
noun
British
A financial organization which pays interest on investments by its members and lends capital for the purchase or improvement of houses.
Building societies originally developed as non-profit-making cooperative societies from friendly societies. Since 1986 changes in legislation have allowed them to offer banking and other facilities, and some have become public limited companies.
http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en...building society
noun
building society (British English) (US savings and loan association)
an organization like a bank that lends money to people who want to buy a house. People also save money with a building society.
http://www.oxfordadvancedlearnersdictionary.c...building society n. (Brit.) Bausparkasse, die;
Duden-Oxford Großwörterbuch Englisch 2005.
© Oxford University Press, Oxford 2005