construction

/kənˈstɹʌkʃən/ noun B1

The process of constructing. (countable, uncountable) · Construction is underway on the new bridge.
Anything that has been constructed. (countable, uncountable) · The engineer marvelled at his construction.
The trade of building structures. (countable, uncountable) · He had worked in construction all his life.
A building, model or some other structure. (countable, uncountable) · The office was a construction of steel and glass.
A (usually non-representational) structure, such as a collage etc. (countable, uncountable) · "Construction in string and clockwork" took first prize.
The manner in which something is built. (countable, uncountable) · A thing of simple construction.
A group of words arranged to form a meaningful phrase. (countable, uncountable)
The act or result of construing the meaning of something. (countable, uncountable) · American conservatives tend to favor strict construction of the Constitution.

Plural constructions

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Pray put no construction on my words I do not mean they should convey, and give them no undue weight.”

He already knew Italian, and had also picked up a little of the Romaic dialect during voyages to the East; and by the aid of these two languages he easily comprehended the construction of all the others, so that at the end of six months he began to speak Spanish, English, and German.

The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 172 · C1

At the moment of his arrival a small yacht was under trial in the bay; this yacht had been built by order of an Englishman, who, having heard that the Genoese excelled all other builders along the shores of the Mediterranean in the construction of fast-sailing vessels, was desirous of possessing a specimen of their skill; the price agreed upon between the Englishman and the Genoese builder was forty thousand francs.

The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 269 · C1

Elizabeth here felt herself called on to say something in vindication of his behaviour to Wickham; and, therefore, gave them to understand, in as guarded a manner as she could, that by what she had heard from his relations in Kent, his actions were capable of a very different construction; and that his character was by no means so faulty, nor Wickham’s so amiable, as they had been considered in Hertfordshire.

Pride and Prejudice, p. 290 · B2

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