Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense reconstructs, present participle reconstructing, past tense, past participle reconstructed
1. verb
If you reconstruct something that has been destroyed or badly damaged, you build it and make it work again.
The government must reconstruct the shattered economy. [VERB noun]
He had plastic surgery to help reconstruct his badly damaged face. [VERB noun]
Although this part of Normandy was badly bombed, it has been completely reconstructed. [beVERB-ed]
Synonyms: rebuild, reform, restore, re-create More Synonyms of reconstruct
2. verb
To reconstruct a system or policy means to change it so that it works in a different way.
She actually wanted to reconstruct the state and transform society. [VERB noun]
How can we reconstruct these institutions in our own societies? [VERB noun]
3. verb
If you reconstruct an event that happened in the past, you try to get a complete understanding of it by combining a lot of small pieces of information.
He began to reconstruct the events of 21 December 1988, when flight 103 disappeared. [VERB noun]
Elaborate efforts were made to reconstruct what had happened. [VERB wh]
Synonyms: build up a picture of, build up, piece together, deduce More Synonyms of reconstruct
reconstruct in British English
(ˌriːkənˈstrʌkt)
verb(transitive)
1.
to construct or form again; rebuild
to reconstruct a Greek vase from fragments
2.
to form a picture of (a crime, past event, etc) by piecing together evidence or acting out a version of what might have taken place
Derived forms
reconstructible (ˌreconˈstructible)
adjective
reconstruction (ˌreconˈstruction)
noun
reconstructive (ˌreconˈstructive) or reconstructional (ˌreconˈstructional)
adjective
reconstructor (ˌreconˈstructor)
noun
reconstruct in American English
(ˌrikənˈstrʌkt)
verb transitive
1.
to construct again; rebuild; make over
2.
to build up, from remaining parts or other evidence, a concept or reproduction of (something in its original or complete form)
Derived forms
reconstructive (ˌreconˈstructive)
adjective
Examples of 'reconstruct' in a sentence
reconstruct
She has undergone 17 operations to reconstruct her face.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
I had six operations in about five weeks to try to reconstruct my leg.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Using his skull they were able to reconstruct his face.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
She was unable to walk for six months and after a year her face was surgically reconstructed.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
He would be sawing camper vans in half and trying to reconstruct them.
The Sun (2014)
He would put the notes aside for a few days and then use them to try to reconstruct the passage.
Garraty, John Arthur The American Nation: A History of the United States to 1877 (1995)
She has undergone 17 operations to reconstruct her face.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
One application is in forensic work, using the images to reconstruct crime scenes.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
They are trying to reconstruct what has really gone on there for the past 30 years.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
If you can, try to reconstruct the interview in a more positive light.
Fletcher, Clive How to Face Interviews (1981)
But she cannot venture to go so far; she lacks the means to reconstruct society in different form.
Kishlansky, Mark A. (editor) Sources of the West: Readings in Western Civilization, Volume 1: From the Beginningto 1715 (1995)
Other researchers are trying to reconstruct the whole mammoth genome, with at least three teams in the race.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
The patient would probably end up having their face reconstructed with skin grafts, which could leave them worse off than they were before.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The doctors removed the tumours and reconstructed her face, but there was one more operation on her eyelid that she kept putting off.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The remembrance roused a whole train of association, and she lay in the darkness reconstructing the past out of which her present had grown.
Edith Wharton The House of Mirth (1905)
No use trying to reconstruct it from how on-trend the parental hairstyle is, you have no idea.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Experts who found the monarch's skeleton under a council parking lot in Leicester reconstructed his face from the skull.
The Sun (2013)
So we're not trying to reconstruct anything from that era other than style, good manners and hard work.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Once the magic is lost," reconstructing "it is like trying to reconstruct a romance - it is just not in the cards.
Geoffrey A. Moore LIVING ON THE FAULT LINE, REVISED EDITION (2002)
In other languages
reconstruct
British English: reconstruct VERB
If you reconstruct something that has been destroyed or badly damaged, you build it and make it work again.
The government must reconstruct the shattered economy.
American English: reconstruct
Brazilian Portuguese: reconstruir
Chinese: 重建
European Spanish: reconstruir
French: reconstruire
German: wieder aufbauen
Italian: ricostruire
Japanese: 建て直す
Korean: 복원하다
European Portuguese: reconstruir
Latin American Spanish: reconstruir
Chinese translation of 'reconstruct'
reconstruct
(riːkənˈstrʌkt)
vt
(= rebuild) 重建 (chóngjiàn)
(= form picture of)[event, crime]重现(現) (chóngxiàn)
1 (verb)
Definition
to build again
The government must reconstruct the shattered economy.
Synonyms
rebuild
The castle was rebuilt by his great grandson in 1859.
reform
his plans to reform the country's economy
restore
They partly restored a local castle.
recreate
remake
renovate
They spent thousands renovating the house.
remodel
re-establish
regenerate
The government will continue to regenerate inner city areas.
reorganize
reassemble
2 (verb)
Definition
to form a picture of (a past event, esp. a crime) by piecing together evidence
Elaborate efforts were made to reconstruct what had happened.
Synonyms
build up a picture of
build up
piece together
deduce
re-enact
Additional synonyms
in the sense of reform
Definition
to improve (a law or institution) by correcting abuses
his plans to reform the country's economy
Synonyms
improve,
better,
correct,
restore,
repair,
rebuild,
amend,
reclaim,
mend,
renovate,
reconstruct,
remodel,
rectify,
rehabilitate,
regenerate,
reorganize,
reconstitute,
revolutionize,
ameliorate,
emend
in the sense of regenerate
Definition
to undergo or cause to undergo physical, economic, or spiritual renewal
The government will continue to regenerate inner city areas.