deconstruct
verb /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌkt/
/ˌdiːkənˈstrʌkt/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they deconstruct | /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌkt/ /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌkt/ |
| he / she / it deconstructs | /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌkts/ /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌkts/ |
| past simple deconstructed | /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌktɪd/ /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌktɪd/ |
| past participle deconstructed | /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌktɪd/ /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌktɪd/ |
| -ing form deconstructing | /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌktɪŋ/ /ˌdiːkənˈstrʌktɪŋ/ |
- deconstruct something (specialist) (in literature and philosophy) to analyse a text in order to show that there is no fixed meaning within the text but that the meaning is created each time in the act of reading
- deconstruct something (into something) to separate something into the parts from which it is made up and put them together again in a different way
- Picasso deconstructed his subjects into cubes and colours.
Word Originlate 19th cent.: back-formation from deconstruction.