constructs

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of construct.

   Psychologists treat intelligence and motivation as abstract constructs rather than directly observable traits.

   The grammar relies on a handful of recurring syntactic constructs.

   Note

   One spelling, two words: the same letters spell the present-tense verb (she constructs a model). As a plural noun it covers each meaning of construct: things assembled from parts, concepts or models, and, in molecular biology, artificially made segments of nucleic acid for transplantation into cells. A determiner or adjective in front, as in these constructs or theoretical constructs, marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of construct.

   The compiler constructs an internal tree from the source code before generating output.

   Each spring the colony constructs a fresh nest from mud and twigs.

   Note

   Agreement does the work here. A singular third-person subject in the present tense takes the -s (the compiler constructs). I, you, we, they and plural nouns take bare construct. Like its lemma, it is transitive and wants an object: a building, a sentence or argument, or a geometric figure drawn to specification. After does, will or can, the -s drops, as in does it construct?

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