rebuild
Americanverb (used with object)
-
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)
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
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.
In the rebuilding of Jerusalem, diverse people worked together to rebuild the ruined walls and established a fraternal coexistence within them, he added.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 25, 2026
Salah struggled for game time at Chelsea and had to switch to Italy's Serie A to rebuild his career with Fiorentina and, from 2015-17, Roma.
From BBC • May 22, 2026
Those funds could potentially go to putting electrical lines underground, supporting local businesses or helping residents rebuild their homes to fire-resistant standards.
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026
The US special envoy to Greenland, the Arctic island coveted by President Donald Trump, told AFP on Wednesday that Washington needs to rebuild its presence in the Danish autonomous territory.
From Barron's • May 20, 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
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.
