Meaning & use
reconstruct
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Meanings
verbtransitive
to build something again after it has been damaged or destroyed
Grammar: Takes an object: reconstruct the bridge.
Patterns
- reconstruct something
- reconstruct something from something
The city plans to reconstruct the old theater.
They reconstructed the wall using the original stones.
After the earthquake, volunteers helped reconstruct the school.
verbtransitive
to piece together a past event or situation from available evidence
Grammar: Takes an object: reconstruct the events.
Patterns
- reconstruct something
- reconstruct what happened
Detectives tried to reconstruct the last hours of the victim.
Historians reconstructed the battle from letters and maps.
The police reconstructed the accident to understand the cause.
Word forms
| third person singular | reconstructs |
|---|---|
| past tense | reconstructed |
| past participle | reconstructed |
| -ing form | reconstructing |
Common combinations
- reconstruct a building
- They hired an architect to reconstruct the building.
- reconstruct events
- The journalist tried to reconstruct events from that night.
- reconstruct from memory
- He reconstructed the story from memory.
- reconstruct the past
- Archaeologists reconstruct the past from objects they find.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rebuild
- usually physical; reconstruct can also mean piecing together ideas or events.
- recreate
- means making something exist again; reconstruct often implies using evidence.
- restore
- means bringing back to a former condition; reconstruct focuses on building again.
Opposites
Word family
- reconstruction noun
- the act of reconstructing
- reconstructive adjective
- relating to rebuilding, especially surgery
Commonly confused: reconstruct or reconstitute?
reconstruct vs reconstitute
reconstitute often means adding water to dried food; reconstruct means building again.
Practice
The police managed to ______ the sequence of events from the security footage.
Choose one answer.
Reconstruct fits because it means piecing together past events. Reconstitute is for adding water to dried food, reconcile is for making friendly, and recondition is for restoring to good condition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “reconstruct”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.