CONSTRUE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Construe

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/kənstrˈu/ Listen

verb

Construe v. t. (past & past part. construed; pres. part. construing)

To apply the rules of syntax to (a sentence or clause) so as to exhibit the structure, arrangement, or connection of, or to discover the sense; to explain the construction of; to interpret; to translate.

To put a construction upon; to explain the sense or intention of; to interpret; to understand. "Thus we are put to construe and paraphrase our own words to free ourselves either from the ignorance or malice of our enemies." "And to be dull was construed to be good."

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Etymology of 'Construe'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Construe" Quotes from Famous Books

... is a severe strain upon common sense to construe the rules so as to prevent a quorum of the House from taking any proceedings at all required by the Constitution; and it is still more difficult to find any justification for holding that the special resolutions of this House adopted December ...

— Slavery and Four Years of War, Vol. 1-2 • Joseph Warren Keifer

... city was placed under martial law, and every citizen was required to report himself for military duty. So persistent were the detectives in their search for treason, that all the business houses in the town had to be shut up, and it became so frequent a matter to construe thoughtless words into expressions of disloyal sentiment, that it was unsafe to speak any other language than Dutch. Thousands of respectable citizens, nightly left their comfortable homes, to cross the ...

— History of Morgan's Cavalry • Basil W. Duke

... you construe your own contracts according to your consciences. I have one of my own to carry out. Mac Tavish has just handed me a jolt ...

— All-Wool Morrison • Holman Day

... did not construe it so, and, if my notion of serially visiting the piazzas of Rome was not prompted by my chance glimpse of the Campo di Fiori, it was certainly not relinquished because of any mischance in my meditated vision of it. I had merely reflected that I could not hope to carry out my scheme ...

— Roman Holidays and Others • W. D. Howells

... might weave unpleasant gossip did not occur to Samson. That they were together late in the evening, unchaperoned, at a road-house whose reputation was socially dubious, was a thing he did not realize. But Farbish was keenly alive to the possibilities of the situation. He chose to construe the Kentuckian's blank expression as annoyance at being discovered, a sentiment he could readily understand. Adrienne Lescott, following her companion's eyes, looked up, and to the boy's astonishment nodded to the new-comer, and ...

— The Call of the Cumberlands • Charles Neville Buck

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