construction
Pluralconstructions (some meanings)
- 1The act of building or making something.
Like putting together a model piece by piece.
Construction of the new bridge took three years.
Workers began construction on the school last spring.
UsageSay under construction, and construction of or on a building.
Similarbuilding, erection, assembly, creation, fabrication
Oppositedemolition, destruction
- 2The job of building houses, roads, and other structures.
My uncle has worked in construction for twenty years.
Jobs in construction often pay well.
UsageSay work in construction, or a construction worker.
- 3The way in which something is built or put together.
Like how well something is put together.
The toy's solid construction means it lasts for years.
Cheap construction made the shed fall apart quickly.
UsageOften solid construction or sturdy construction.
Similarbuild, structure, design, workmanship
Note
- 4Something that has been built or made by putting parts together, like a building, a model or a piece of art.
Like anything you build out of blocks.
The treehouse was a wobbly construction of old boards.
Their sandcastle was an impressive construction.
UsageSay a construction of wood or wire.
- 5An idea, belief or way of grouping things that people have made up and agreed on, not something found in nature.
Like the rules of a game: they are real while people play by them, but people made them up.
Some people say that money is just a construction, because it only has value when we all agree it does.
Many people see rules about what boys and girls should wear as social constructions.
UsageOften a social construction or a cultural construction.
Note
- 6The way someone understands or explains what words or actions mean, especially the words of a law.
Like reading a meaning into what someone says.
He put a positive construction on her refusal.
The lawyer's construction of the contract differed from ours.
UsageSay put a kind or unkind construction on something.
Note
Less common meanings
- 7In grammar, a pattern for putting words together to make a meaningful phrase or sentence.
In Spanish class, we learned a new construction for asking polite questions.
That construction sounds wrong in English.
UsageOften a passive construction or a grammatical construction.
Similarstructure
Note
- 8A way of drawing a shape, or the shape itself, using only a compass and a straight edge.
Like drawing a shape using just a ruler and a compass.
The geometry class learned a construction for bisecting an angle.
Her construction divided the line into three equal parts.
Note
Practice
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Origin
It came through Middle English and Old French from the Latin word cōnstructiō, from cōnstruere.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- The word came through Middle English and Old French from Latin. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin cōnstructiō derives from the verb cōnstruere, whose dictionary headword is cōnstruō. en.wiktionary.org