construe

[ verb kuh n-stroo or, esp. British, kon-stroo; noun kon-stroo ]

/ verb kənˈstru or, esp. British, ˈkɒn stru; noun ˈkɒn stru /

verb (used with object), con·strued, con·stru·ing.

to give the meaning or intention of; explain; interpret.

to deduce by inference or interpretation; infer: He construed her intentions from her gestures.

to translate, especially orally.

to analyze the syntax of; to rehearse the applicable grammatical rules of: to construe a sentence.

to arrange or combine (words, phrases, etc.) syntactically.

verb (used without object), con·strued, con·stru·ing.

to admit of grammatical analysis or interpretation.

noun

the act of construing.

something that is construed.

Words nearby construe

constructive, constructive dismissal, constructive interference, constructivism, constructor, construe, consubstantial, consubstantiate, consubstantiation, consuela, consuetude

Origin of construe

1325–75; Middle English construen < Latin construere to put together, build, equivalent to con- con- + struere to pile up, arrange, perhaps akin to sternere to spread, strew; see stratum

OTHER WORDS FROM construe

con·stru·er, nounun·con·strued, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for construing

Vivian Lynch felt Whitehead was wrong in construing this as an invasion-of-privacy case.
The Stacks: The Judas Priest Teen Suicide Trial|Ivan Solotaroff|June 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Carter was construing, and had made a most preposterous howler, it does not matter what.
The Loom of Youth|Alec Waugh
Not for the construing boy is the plea, dear to Biblical critics, that "the wider divergence is the higher unity."
Seeing and Hearing|George W. E. Russell
Then construing the stranger's silence as an order, the apprentice left him alone in the closet.
The Magic Skin|Honore de Balzac

Whereupon the young man laughed quietly and, construing her consent, sat down.
Linda Lee, Incorporated|Louis Joseph Vance
We are not justified in construing these remarks as evidence of disrespect, far less of filial and family disloyalty.
Jesus the Christ|James Edward Talmage

British Dictionary definitions for construing

construe

/ (kənˈstruː) /

verb -strues, -struing or -strued (mainly tr)

to interpret the meaning of (something)you can construe that in different ways

(may take a clause as object) to discover by inference; deduce

to analyse the grammatical structure of; parse (esp a Latin or Greek text as a preliminary to translation)

to combine (words) syntactically

(also intr) old-fashioned to translate literally, esp aloud as an academic exercise

noun

old-fashioned something that is construed, such as a piece of translation

Derived forms of construe

construable, adjectiveconstruability, nounconstruer, noun

Word Origin for construe

C14: from Latin construere to pile up; see construct

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