Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Late Latin
Origin: construere, from Latin, 'to construct', from com- ( COM-) + struere 'to build'

construe

 verb
     
con‧strue [transitive usually in passive]
to understand a remark or action in a particular way [↪ misconstrue]
construe something as something
comments that could be construed as sexist
The term can be construed in two different ways.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary