prefabricate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to fabricate or construct beforehand.
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to manufacture in standardized parts or sections ready for quick assembly and erection, as buildings.
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of prefabricate
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:
The tower crane also allows the crews to prefabricate some things on the ground, such as steel cages that are then hoisted up and set in place, Collins said.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 19, 2016
Consolidated would prefabricate ships in the plant at Maywood, trans port parts 22 mi. by truck and assemble them in yards at Wilmington and Long Beach.
From Time Magazine Archive
By using automatic welding machines to prefabricate sections and then moving the sections into place with Chinese-designed cranes, the yard has cut building time on a ship from one year to seven months.
From Time Magazine Archive
Analysts have said it’s smart to ditch that requirement because these days most prefabricated homes aren’t moved after their initial placement.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026
On Monday, Japanese toilet giant Toto halted orders for prefabricated bath units because of a shortage of naphtha, a critical petrochemical derived from crude oil.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
By some definitions, the first prefabricated house was built, shipped and reassembled in the 1620s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 14, 2026
They moved to a prefabricated portable home in 2022, and his celery is now sold to a local supermarket chain.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
They took a thirty-five-foot section of corridor and created a cell block with a prefabricated wall.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
Modular construction for apartments, or prefabricating parts of buildings in factories and then assembling them on-site, offers a way to possibly bring down costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
It involves prefabricating panels for use as part of walls, floors and roofs in a manufacturing plant and then sending them to a building site.
From New York Times ● Jun. 7, 2022
By prefabricating, De Long cut the total time to six months.
From Time Magazine Archive
Thousands of dollars went out the window when Resettlement Administration officials took to prefabricating concrete slabs for the houses, then couldn't find a way to join them.
From Time Magazine Archive
When the Germans surrendered in World War H, we found they had been prefabricating subs.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
