reconstruct

verb

re·con·struct ˌrē-kən-ˈstrəkt

reconstructed; reconstructing; reconstructs

Synonyms of reconstruct next

transitive verb

: to construct again: such as

: to build or assemble (something) again

reconstruct a damaged chimney

medical : to subject (an organ or part) to surgery to re-form its structure or correct a defect

an athlete with a surgically reconstructed shoulder

: to re-create or reimagine (something from the past) especially by using information acquired through research

reconstructing a lost civilization

The solution is to reconstruct the vocabularies of vanished ancient languages (so-called protolanguages) by comparing vocabularies of modern languages derived from them.—

Jared Diamond

: to create an accurate reenactment or understanding of (a past occurrence or event, such as an accident) by applying scientific principles and techniques to physical evidence

McDaniel hired the firm to reconstruct a fiery collision in Limestone County several years ago in which two young women were killed when their car was engulfed in flames.—

John Peck

reconstructible

ˌrē-kən-ˈstrək-tə-bəl

adjective

reconstructive

ˌrē-kən-ˈstrək-tiv

adjective

reconstructor

ˌrē-kən-ˈstrək-tər

noun

Example Sentences

After the earthquake, many houses needed to be reconstructed. Archaeologists were able to reconstruct most of the ancient village from their findings. They are attempting to reconstruct the events that led to the bridge's collapse.

Recent Examples on the Web The player learns to reconstruct the dismal spaces, careful not to be annihilated by overzealous enemies that lurk around many of the post-apocalyptic corners. —

Holly Jones, Variety, 23 Nov. 2022 And last year, Swiss scientists used multispectral imaging to reconstruct photographic plates created by French physicist Gabriel Lippmann, who pioneered color photography and snagged the 1908 Nobel Prize in Physics for his efforts. —

Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 20 Oct. 2022 The authors built a software that used these parameters to reconstruct the song. —

Jason P. Dinh, Discover Magazine, 10 Aug. 2022 Once an area is scanned into the police department’s computer system, other functions are used to reconstruct details such as how fast a vehicle was traveling into and out of a crash. —

Dallas News, 5 July 2022 Last year, however, researchers managed to reconstruct DNA from two Siberian mammoths that were more than a million years old, using material extracted from their molars. —

Matthew Hutson, The New Yorker, 28 Dec. 2022 In a process that generally takes two to three months, investigators will try to reconstruct what happened. —

Dan Morse, Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2022 But the pandemic made those plans impossible, so Tanaïs instead turned to perfumery and historic records to reconstruct a sense of place from afar. —

Curbed, 1 Mar. 2022 Ten years ago, members of Jack Gallant’s lab at UC Berkeley were able to hazily reconstruct visual scenes from the brain activity of people watching video clips. —

Kelly Clancy, Wired, 10 Jan. 2022 See More

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