Word
construction
Phoneticscon·struc·tion
US/kənˈstɹəkʃən/
UK/kənstɹˈʌkʃən/
Definitions
01building process
n. the act or process of building something large, like a house, bridge, or road.
n. the process of building or assembling a large-scale structure, such as an edifice or infrastructure.
“The new library is still under construction and should open next year.”
“The construction of the high-speed rail link was delayed by several months due to unforeseen geological challenges and budget overruns.”
Usage
often used as an uncountable noun when referring to the activity itself.
Antonyms
02the building industry
n. the business or trade of building houses and other structures.
n. the commercial sector or industry involved in the creation of buildings and infrastructure.
“He found a well-paying job in construction after finishing school.”
“Economic analysts noted a sharp decline in construction activity following the sudden increase in interest rates and material costs.”
Usage
frequently used as a modifier before other nouns like 'worker' or 'site'.
Synonyms
03a structure
n. something that has been built, such as a large building or a model.
n. a physical entity or structure that has been built or assembled.
“The old bridge was a massive construction made of stone and iron.”
“The architect designed a temporary construction of glass and timber to house the exhibition during the summer festival.”
Usage
countable in this sense.
04grammar
n. the way words are put together to make a phrase or sentence.
n. the arrangement of words or grammatical elements to form a meaningful phrase or sentence.
“The teacher explained that this specific construction requires a gerund.”
“The passive construction is frequently employed in scientific writing to maintain an objective and impersonal tone.”
Academic · Technical
Usage
refers specifically to the syntactic arrangement of language.
05interpretation
n. the way you understand or explain the meaning of something.
n. the act of interpreting or assigning a specific meaning to a statement, action, or law.
“It is difficult to put a positive construction on such a rude comment.”
“The court was asked to provide a definitive construction of the disputed clause in the contract to prevent further litigation.”
Formal · Technical
Usage
often used with the verb 'to put' as in 'to put a construction on something'.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“If President Trump's threatened 50% tariffs go through later this month, construction businesses that rely on materials imported from Canada are among those that will suffer.” “Both the consultant and the construction management firm, JLL, raised safety and cost concerns that they say would arise from keeping the building open during a phased renovation.” Etymology
From Middle English construccioun, construction, from Old French construction, from Latin cōnstructiō, from cōnstruere. Morphologically construct + -ion.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Collocations
Word family
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/construction