rebuild
Americanverb (used with object)
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to repair, especially to dismantle and reassemble with new parts.
to rebuild an old car.
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to replace, restrengthen, or reinforce.
to rebuild an army.
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to revise, reshape, or reorganize.
to rebuild a shattered career.
verb (used without object)
verb
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to make, construct, or form again
the cost of rebuilding the house
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(tr) to restore (a system or situation) to a previous condition
his struggle to rebuild his life
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rebuildsimple
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rebuildssimple
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have rebuildedperfect
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have rebuiltperfect
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has rebuildedperfect
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has rebuiltperfect
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am rebuildingprogressive
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are rebuildingprogressive
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is rebuildingprogressive
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have been rebuildingperfect progressive
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has been rebuildingperfect progressive
Past
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rebuildedsimple
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rebuiltsimple
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had rebuildedperfect
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had rebuiltperfect
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was rebuildingprogressive
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were rebuildingprogressive
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had been rebuildingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rebuild
Explanation
When you construct something again, you rebuild it. If the chair you made from scraps of wood collapses when you sit in it, you can either rebuild it or give up on the idea of making your own furniture. When a natural disaster — like a hurricane or a tornado — destroys people's houses, they usually need the community's help to rebuild them. Before modern fire departments existed, several cities in the United States burned in terrible fires, destroying nearly all the homes and businesses. These cities had to rebuild, which they often did using less flammable materials, like bricks, rather than just wood.
Vocabulary lists containing rebuild
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
As for Saint Simeon's column, Arabi said "the base is there, but the remains of the column are scattered, and we will try to rebuild it".
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
However, with so much young talent at Tuchel's disposal, it could also be seen as an exciting opportunity to rebuild.
From BBC ● Jul. 17, 2026
Economies around the world haven’t had time to rebuild depleted inventories since traffic accelerated last month.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
With the trade deadline on Aug. 2, they could make some moves to improve this season or sell off their veteran assets and attempt to rebuild again.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
“The remodeling was a true Ernest venture,” recalled his daughter Margaret, who turned ten that summer watching the builders tear off the front of the house and rebuild the structure room by room.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
This, she says, will be followed by a broader recovery among oil and gas service providers as industry activity rebuilds through 2027-2028.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
Kari Weaver is an interior designer who lost her home in the Palisades fire and a member of Resilient Palisades, a group that’s advocating all-electric rebuilds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026
It actively rebuilds your body, strengthening muscles, supporting bone growth, and helping burn fat.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 30, 2026
The victory is an important one for Draper as he rebuilds after a torrid eight-month spell plagued with an arm injury.
From BBC ● Mar. 12, 2026
By the early nineties, a scientist at Yale had used HeLa to discover that human cancer cells contain an enzyme called telomerase that rebuilds their telomeres.
From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot
But whence cometh all this to you, these stuffs and vessels, and who was it rebuilded this house in a space so short?
From The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night — Volume 16 by Burton, Richard Francis, Sir
Once more the vast dome of heaven became the roof of my house, and within the house was rebuilded that which my soul called beautiful.
From A Tramp's Sketches by Graham, Stephen
Only thus are the walls broken down rebuilded.
From Expositions of Holy Scripture Second Kings Chapters VIII to End and Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Esther, Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes by Maclaren, Alexander
Once, there at the beginning of the nineties, Grand Trunk made tentative offers for the control of the rebuilded property.
From The Story of the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg RailRoad by Hungerford, Edward
For we look to the bed as a refuge from our troubles, as a sanctuary wherein is rebuilded our strength.
From The Nervous Housewife by Myerson, Abraham
He resigned in dramatic fashion in October after England lost their opening World Cup qualifier to Germany in the final game played at the old Wembley Stadium before it was demolished and rebuilt.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
We met in Cathedral Square, near the Gothic-style St. Martini church which was destroyed at the end of World War Two and then rebuilt.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
On “Neon Summer Skin,” that feeling is not only remembered but sonically rebuilt, rendered in lush, vividly textured arrangements.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
The estimates only cover construction, and don’t include other costs that could factor into the total if the buildings were to be rebuilt, such as debris removal and reinforcement.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
They rebuilt instruments, checked circuits, wiggled wires, dusted plugs.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
More widely, Burnham has also said he would publish a 10-year plan for the country and the economy later this year, likely to detail his wider plans on decentralisation, devolution, and rebuilding Britain.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
Root was immediately tasked with rebuilding a chaotic start to the chase after Ben Duckett was dismissed from the first ball of the innings.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2026
Flying them, crashing them, rebuilding them, rinse and repeat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The setback delayed missions and prompted the company to redirect capital toward a major rebuilding effort.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
With all of this went the demoralizing effect of an unsuccessful war and the extraordinary challenges associated with rebuilding new state and local governments.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
