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.
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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:
But they now say they will rebuild, although getting over the fire will take them a lot longer than two years.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
While such treatments remain a future goal, the discovery provides direct evidence that the adult human heart has at least some natural capacity to rebuild muscle after an attack.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 11, 2026
The program began in 2015 and Ledbetter explained it exists both to serve science and educate the public -- but also to rebuild the ecosystem "one coral at a time."
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
Tracey Alexander, who lost her home in the fire and is still considering whether to rebuild, said the DSA debate is a distraction.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
"If I could have you rebuild me from the bones out, I'd do that as well. I can tolerate it. I'm strong."
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
Rebels led by HTS overthrew long-time Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, with the group's leader Ahmed al-Sharaa taking over as president as the country rebuilds after more than 13 years of civil war.
From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026
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
Raman, a Los Angeles City Council member, called for further streamlining of the permitting process for rebuilds as well, including by creating a wide set of preapproved, fire-resistant building plans.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 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
In them days Commandments were mostly done in gilt letters on a black ground, and that's how they were out where I say, before the owld church was rebuilded.
From Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
When the house on Third and Cumberland was burnt, he rebuilded it, and the owners charged him such rent he had to move.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 7 by Work Projects Administration
Within my own calm mirror a beautiful world had seen itself rebuilded.
From A Tramp's Sketches by Stephen Graham
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 Sir Richard Francis Burton
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
PET contains carbon-rich molecules that can potentially be broken apart and rebuilt into useful compounds, including components that can ultimately become proteins.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 13, 2026
During an El Niño cycle in 1983, waves collapsed the landmark Seal Beach Pier, which has since been rebuilt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
The former businessman negotiated a restructuring of the debt and rebuilt relations with foreign creditors.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
Protect them, and the demand base for America’s rebuilt smelting capacity will drive itself.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
You repaired the dikes in your rice paddy, and rebuilt your mud hut.
From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
Since then, Doustdar has been tasked with rebuilding the company — which he is doing, in fits and starts.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 14, 2026
Almost as obvious: The war’s end led to a rebuilding of battered nations and an era of unparalleled prosperity.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Paul and his family are now hoping to find a permanent home to begin rebuilding their life.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
In rebuilding, we learned much about resilience, Dan Chung writes.
From Barron's ● Sep. 11, 2026
By the time of our plane trip, Quetzalcoatl had apparently conquered the Maya city of Chichen Itza and was rebuilding it in his own Toltec image.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
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.
