rebuild
Americanverb (used with object)
-
rebuilds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rebuilt,
past participle, past
-
rebuilded,
past participle, past (Archaic)
-
rebuilding
present participle
-
to repair, especially to dismantle and reassemble with new parts.
to rebuild an old car.
-
to replace, restrengthen, or reinforce.
to rebuild an army.
-
to revise, reshape, or reorganize.
to rebuild a shattered career.
verb (used without object)
-
rebuilds,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rebuilt,
past participle, past
-
rebuilded,
past participle, past (Archaic)
-
rebuilding
present participle
verb
-
to make, construct, or form again
the cost of rebuilding the house
-
(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
-
rebuildsimple
-
rebuildssimple
-
have rebuildedperfect
-
have rebuiltperfect
-
has rebuildedperfect
-
has rebuiltperfect
-
am rebuildingprogressive
-
are rebuildingprogressive
-
is rebuildingprogressive
-
have been rebuildingperfect progressive
-
has been rebuildingperfect progressive
Past
-
rebuildedsimple
-
rebuiltsimple
-
had rebuildedperfect
-
had rebuiltperfect
-
was rebuildingprogressive
-
were rebuildingprogressive
-
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:
Caruso has played a prominent role in helping rebuild Pacific Palisades and Altadena following the fires.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026
Their efforts have included selectively breeding corals that can withstand higher temperatures, raising young corals in nurseries to rebuild damaged reefs, and transferring communities of microorganisms between corals to improve their resilience.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 19, 2026
The southern Bouches-du-Rhone department said it planned to rebuild the school, but the project depended on securing additional land from the city of Marseille, with discussions ongoing for years.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 2026
The Aston Villa head coach was talking about his team's form amid Villa Park's rebuild.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026
Plus, he needed more practice if he was going to help Mom and Dad rebuild the cabin.
From "I Survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, 1964" by Lauren Tarshis
Instead, Ted’s emphasis on personal growth and camaraderie rebuilds the Greyhounds from their league’s demoralized joke into its comeback kings, powered by their yearning to Believe.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
The findings support a broader model in which fresh magma gradually enters and rebuilds reservoirs beneath giant calderas after major eruptions.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 29, 2026
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
The utility has said that burying the wires as the town rebuilds thousands of homes destroyed in the fire will make the electrical grid safer and more reliable.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 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
Within my own calm mirror a beautiful world had seen itself rebuilded.
From A Tramp's Sketches by Stephen Graham
He had built new bridges by the dozens; purchased and rebuilded cars and locomotives by the hundreds.
From The Story of the Rome, Watertown, and Ogdensburg RailRoad by Edward Hungerford
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 Edward Hungerford
The Lord will cause Jerusalem to be rebuilded “upon her own heap.”
From Why I Preach the Second Coming by Isaac Massey Haldeman
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 Alexander Maclaren
These findings do not establish that damaged cartilage was rebuilt or that arthritis progression can be permanently stopped.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026
In 2019, they ripped one version out of Brooksville and rebuilt it from scratch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
However, with 20 houses renovated or rebuilt, a few former hostages have come back to live here.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
In another post, he expressed his wish for "an independent Quebec, a rebuilt Haiti".
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
Sagging piles of rotted wood and fabric had rebuilt themselves into fainting couches and armchairs, and sunlight streamed through high windows once so grimy I’d thought they were blacked out.
From "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" by Ransom Riggs
It was a stark contrast from Chicago, where a rebuilding project led to two tumultuous years and nearly three times as many losses as victories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
"The task ahead is to move from coping to rebuilding, restoring fiscal space, and rebuilding supply-side resilience."
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
“Given elevated debt, rising sovereign yields, and pressing spending needs, a renewed focus on rebuilding fiscal space is increasingly urgent,” it added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The city’s public works team and its Parks, Recreation and Marine bureau were working to secure it, putting up sandbags and rebuilding the berm to stop water intrusion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
And in rebuilding it they could not this time, as before, make use of the fallen stones.
From "Animal Farm: A Fairy Story" by George Orwell
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
