construct

verb

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con·struct | \ kən-ˈstrəkt

\

constructed; constructing; constructs

Definition of construct

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to make or form by combining or arranging parts or elements : build construct a bridge also : contrive, devise construct a plan

2 : to draw (a geometrical figure) with suitable instruments and under specified conditions Construct a regular hexagon with sides 3 inches long.

3 : to set in logical order

construct

noun

con·struct | \ ˈkän-ˌstrəkt

\

Definition of construct (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : something constructed by the mind: such as

a : a theoretical entity … the deductive study of abstract constructs …— Daniel J. Boorstin

b : a working hypothesis or concept The unconscious was a construct that came from the daily effort to understand patients.

2 : a product of ideology, history, or social circumstances Privacy is more than a social construct or an idea; it is a condition of the body.— Sallie Tisdale

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Examples of construct in a Sentence

Verb They plan to construct a barn behind the house. The author constructs all the stories around one theme. Construct a triangle that has sides of equal length. Noun He argues that time is a subjective construct with no objective existence.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb San Diego is giving developers new incentives to construct housing for middle-income residents like nurses and firefighters, just as a new report shows other efforts to address the city’s housing crisis might be starting to pay off. — David Garrick, San Diego Union-Tribune, "San Diego OKs middle-income incentive as new analysis shows some progress on local housing crisis," 5 Aug. 2020 Under the new plan, developers would construct the dams, now numbering four, in a side tributary canyon called Big Canyon, about 23 miles west of Tuba City. — Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic, "Navajo Nation issues opposition letter to Little Colorado confluence dam project," 2 Aug. 2020 The building is near the Trump International Hotel, and if the FBI moves the lot, it could be used to construct another hotel that would compete with Trump's. — Andrew Taylor, Star Tribune, "GOP tucks $8 billion for military weaponry in virus bill," 28 July 2020 The orbiter's three science instruments will monitor and measure Martian weather systems in order to help construct a more complete picture of Mars's complicated atmosphere. — Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, "The UAE Is Going to Mars Today—Here's How to Watch the Historic Launch Live," 19 July 2020 Schaaff asked Johnson, a longtime friend and collaborator, to help construct the piece, particularly the process of encasing the needles in resin. — Danielle Duclos, Anchorage Daily News, "‘It’s not somewhere else. It’s everywhere’: Anchorage businessowner turns needles littering his property into art piece about drug use," 6 July 2020 The school has been unable to get funds to construct a building, so classes are held in the open air, according to the head teacher, Sayyed Tariq. — Susannah George, Washington Post, "Within the Taliban, clashing views of Afghanistan’s future," 12 July 2020 De Blasio, an outspoken critic of President Trump, was seen working alongside his wife, Chirlane McCray, and Sharpton to help construct the message being written in yellow on the street. — Emma Colton, Washington Examiner, "Bill de Blasio and Al Sharpton spotted helping paint Black Lives Matter mural outside Trump Tower," 9 July 2020 Protesters almost immediately began to construct a makeshift barricade to take the concrete barrier’s place, moving furniture, trash cans and plywood into the road to continue to block traffic into the area. — Fox News, "Seattle CHOP barriers being cleared by city crews, cops at scene," 30 June 2020 Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The pandemic should put an end to the common misconception that race, a social construct, is a biological explanation for health disparities. — Laura Helmuth, Scientific American, "Nine Important Things We've Learned About the Coronavirus Pandemic So Far," 4 Aug. 2020 Genderqueer is similar to the term non-binary, which refers to people who fall outside of the male/female gender construct, states OutRight Action International. — Karen Pallarito, Health.com, "What Is Genderqueer? Here's How Experts and People Who Identify This Way Explain It," 29 July 2020 Technically, there are no actual biological characteristics of race, and race is a social construct. — Kelsey Hurwitz, Woman's Day, "What Is White Privilege, and How You Can Use Yours To Help Others?," 9 June 2020 France has long refused to recognize race as anything more than a social construct. — Benoit Morenne And Stacy Meichtry, WSJ, "In France, Protesters Want to Talk About Race. The Establishment Disapproves.," 19 June 2020 People even steer clear of the German word for race (Rasse) because of its connotations as a biological rather than social construct; the word also refers to animal breeds. — David Meyer, Fortune, "Corporate Germany has a race problem—and a lack of data is not helping," 19 June 2020 Your guy doesn’t sound compliant – to any particular social, ethical or relationship construct. — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, "Distance and disease rattle relationship," 12 June 2020 Your guy doesn’t sound compliant — to any particular social, ethical or relationship construct. — Amy Dickinson, oregonlive, "Ask Amy: Relationship strained by distance and virus concerns," 12 June 2020 In other words, gender is a social construct and a social identity. — Kristen Rogers, CNN, "Gender identity: The difference between gender, sex and other need-to-knows," 10 June 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'construct.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.