reconstruction
the act of reconstructing, rebuilding, or reassembling, or the state of being reconstructed: the gigantic task of reconstruction after a fire.
something reconstructed, rebuilt, or reassembled: a reconstruction of the sequence of events leading to his death; accurate reconstructions of ancient Greek buildings.
(initial capital letter)U.S. History.
the process by which the states that had seceded were reorganized as part of the Union after the Civil War.
the period during which this took place, 1865–77.
Origin of reconstruction
1Other words from reconstruction
- re·con·struc·tion·al, re·con·struc·tion·ar·y, adjective
- pre-Re·con·struc·tion, noun, adjective
- self-re·con·struc·tion, noun
Words Nearby reconstruction
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use reconstruction in a sentence
The project will close the Addison Road and Arlington Cemetery stations for platform reconstruction, part of Metro’s multiyear, $431 million project to replace and upgrade deteriorating platforms at 20 stations.
Two Blue Line Metro stations to close through late May for platform work | Justin George | February 11, 2021 | Washington PostEven harder, he’ll have to do that personal reconstruction while making his debut appearance on Broadway.
Ethan Hawke turns his acting experience — and past infidelities — into brilliant fiction | Ron Charles | February 2, 2021 | Washington PostThe problem, called the Holocene warming conundrum, is that previous reconstructions of the historical climate showed a warm period from 6,000 to 10,000 years ago, followed by a period of cooling.
Earth used to be cooler than we thought, which changes our math on global warming | Philip Kiefer | January 28, 2021 | Popular-ScienceTheir design was based on a historic reconstruction of the Stonehenge of 4,200 years ago.
Stonehenge enhanced voices and music within the stone ring | Bruce Bower | September 29, 2020 | Science News For StudentsI think probably a lot of people didn’t realize exactly what compromises would be necessary to deliver on these promises of reconstruction.
When Your Safety Becomes My Danger (Ep. 432) | Stephen J. Dubner | September 24, 2020 | Freakonomics
Excerpted from Capitol Men: The Epic Story of reconstruction Through the Lives of the First Black Congressmen by Philip Dray.
The Black Man Who Replaced Jefferson Davis in the Senate | Philip Dray | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTEd Brooke, the first African-American Senator since reconstruction, embraced fights with the left and right.
Ed Brooke: The Senate's Civil Rights Pioneer and Prophet of a Post-Racial America | John Avlon | January 4, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTCongress created SIGAR to provide oversight of relief and reconstruction projects in Afghanistan.
The 1950s, observed C. Vann Woodward, resembled the era of reconstruction in many ways.
One case in particular became the focus of Stuart Bowen, Special Inspector General for Iraq reconstruction.
Speed Read: James Risen Indicts The War On Terror’s Costly Follies | William O’Connor | October 14, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHe stepped gladly into the building and the door shut with the familiar thunder that completed the reconstruction of the past.
Three More John Silence Stories | Algernon BlackwoodAny change for good among such would be to their dissolution and reconstruction on principles which they do not now hold.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamCorrect views of a vow, as altogether wrong, should lead to its abandonment, or a total reconstruction of it.
The Ordinance of Covenanting | John CunninghamIn these methods there is needed no reconstruction of previous images, no piecing together of a number of fragments.
English: Composition and Literature | W. F. (William Franklin) WebsterThere would follow, I calculated, a period of profound reconstruction in method and policy alike.
The New Machiavelli | Herbert George Wells
British Dictionary definitions for Reconstruction
/ (ˌriːkənˈstrʌkʃən) /
US history the period after the Civil War when the South was reorganized and reintegrated into the Union (1865–77)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Cultural definitions for Reconstruction
The period after the Civil War in which the states formerly part of the Confederacy were brought back into the United States. During Reconstruction, the South was divided into military districts for the supervision of elections to set up new state governments. These governments often included carpetbaggers, as former officials of the Confederacy were not allowed to serve in them. The new state governments approved three amendments to the Constitution: the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery; the Fourteenth Amendment, which had a provision keeping some former supporters of the Confederacy out of public office until Congress allowed them to serve; and the Fifteenth Amendment, which guaranteed voting rights for black men. Once a state approved the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, it was to be readmitted to the United States and again represented in Congress. The official end of Reconstruction came in 1877, when the last troops were withdrawn from the South.
Notes for Reconstruction
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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