CONSTRUCT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does construct mean? 

• CONSTRUCT (noun)
  The noun CONSTRUCT has 1 sense:

1. an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances

  Familiarity information: CONSTRUCT used as a noun is very rare.

• CONSTRUCT (verb)
  The verb CONSTRUCT has 6 senses:

1. make by combining materials and parts

2. put together out of artificial or natural components or parts

3. draw with suitable instruments and under specified conditions

4. create by linking linguistic units

5. create by organizing and linking ideas, arguments, or concepts

6. reassemble mentally

  Familiarity information: CONSTRUCT used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONSTRUCT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

concept; conception; construct

Hypernyms ("construct" is a kind of...):

idea; thought (the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "construct"):

notion (a general inclusive concept)

category (a general concept that marks divisions or coordinations in a conceptual scheme)

regulation; rule (a principle or condition that customarily governs behavior)

attribute; dimension; property (a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished)

abstract; abstraction (a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance)

quantity (the concept that something has a magnitude and can be represented in mathematical expressions by a constant or a variable)

division; part; section (one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole)

whole (all of something including all its component elements or parts)

law; natural law (a rule or body of rules of conduct inherent in human nature and essential to or binding upon human society)

law; law of nature (a generalization that describes recurring facts or events in nature)

lexicalized concept (a concept that is expressed by a word (in some particular language))

hypothesis; possibility; theory (a tentative insight into the natural world; a concept that is not yet verified but that if true would explain certain facts or phenomena)

fact (a concept whose truth can be proved)

linguistic rule; rule ((linguistics) a rule describing (or prescribing) a linguistic practice)

conceptualisation; conceptuality; conceptualization (an elaborated concept)

• CONSTRUCT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they construct    ... he / she / it constructs   
Past simple: constructed   
Past participle: constructed   
-ing form: constructing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make by combining materials and parts

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

build; construct; make

Context example:

Some eccentric constructed an electric brassiere warmer

Hypernyms (to "construct" is one way to...):

create; make (make or cause to be or to become)

Verb group:

build (be engaged in building)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "construct"):

customise; customize (make according to requirements)

revet (construct a revetment)

dry-wall (construct with drywall)

lock (build locks in order to facilitate the navigation of vessels)

wattle (build of or with wattle)

frame; frame up (construct by fitting or uniting parts together)

rebuild; reconstruct (build again)

groin (build with groins)

cantilever (construct with girders and beams such that only one end is fixed)

erect; put up; raise; rear; set up (construct, build, or erect)

corduroy (build (a road) from logs laid side by side)

channelise; channelize (make a channel for; provide with a channel)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

The men construct the bookshelves

Derivation:

construction (the act of constructing something)

constructor (someone who contracts for and supervises construction (as of a building))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put together out of artificial or natural components or parts

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Synonyms:

construct; fabricate; manufacture

Context example:

He manufactured a popular cereal

Hypernyms (to "construct" is one way to...):

make (make by shaping or bringing together constituents)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "construct"):

mass-produce (produce on a large scale)

raft (make into a raft)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Draw with suitable instruments and under specified conditions

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

construct an equilateral triangle

Hypernyms (to "construct" is one way to...):

delineate; describe; draw; line; trace (make a mark or lines on a surface)

Domain category:

geometry (the pure mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

construction (drawing a figure satisfying certain conditions as part of solving a problem or proving a theorem)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Create by linking linguistic units

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

construct a paragraph

Hypernyms (to "construct" is one way to...):

create by mental act; create mentally (create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Create by organizing and linking ideas, arguments, or concepts

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

construct an argument

Hypernyms (to "construct" is one way to...):

create by mental act; create mentally (create mentally and abstractly rather than with one's hands)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Reassemble mentally

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

construct; reconstruct; retrace

Context example:

reconstruct the events of 20 years ago

Hypernyms (to "construct" is one way to...):

conjecture; hypothecate; hypothesise; hypothesize; speculate; suppose; theorise; theorize (to believe especially on uncertain or tentative grounds)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "construct"):

etymologise; etymologize (construct the history of words)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

 Context examples 

A synthetic sequence of DNA constructed in the antisense orientation to a sequence of DNA in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), a member of the erbB gene family.

(EGFR Antisense DNA, NCI Thesaurus)

A class of macronutrients constructed from carbon, oxygen and hydrogen that have the general formula Cn(H2O)m.

(Dietary Carbohydrate, NCI Thesaurus/CRCH)

The extent to which a measurement method accurately represents a construct and is able to produce an observation distinct from that produced by a measure of another construct.

(Construct Validity, NCI Thesaurus)

These macromolecules (proteins) form an intricate meshwork in which cells are embedded to construct tissues.

(Extracellular Matrix Protein, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Issue associated with problems removing the materials used to construct the cover or outer wrapping of the device.

(Failure to Unwrap Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

A receptacle with a body constructed of film, woven plastic, woven fabric, paper or combination thereof, together with any appropriate service equipment and handling devices, and if necessary, an inner coating or liner.

(Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container, NCI Thesaurus)

Included in proliferative disorders as stomal abnormalities seen thus far are more likely a consequence of transgene construct.

(Fibrosis NOS of the Mouse Prostate Gland, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)

The physical components from which a computer is constructed (electronic circuits and input/output devices).

(Computer Hardware, NCI Thesaurus)

A method of examining structures within the body by scanning them with X rays and using a computer to construct a series of cross-sectional scans along a single axis.

(Computed Tomography, NCI Thesaurus)

CD28, a T-cell surface-associated co-stimulatory molecule, is required for full T-cell activation, proliferation, and survival; expression of the CD28 fragment in this chimeric gene construct may impede activation-induced cell death (AICD) of TIL.

(Anti-CEA IgCD28TCR-Transduced Autologous T Cells, NCI Thesaurus)