rebuild

R1E1B3U1I1L1D2
/ɹiːˈbɪld//ˈɹiːbɪld/

verb

To build again or anew.

“After missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season in a row, the Detroit Red Wings are trying to rebuild.”

CommonScrabble 10

Meanings

verbrebuild (third-person singular simple present rebuilds, present participle rebuilding, simple past and past participle rebuilt)

present singular third person rebuilds · participle present rebuilding · participle past rebuilt · past rebuilt

  1. ambitransitiveTo build again or anew.
    3 more examples

    The economics of rebuilding all the stations covered by the electrification would be prohibitive, but to help bring home to the Glasgow public that their North Clyde suburban service has been transformed, not merely re-equipped with new trains, stations have at least been associated psychologically with the rolling stock by a common colour scheme.

    1960 December, “The Glasgow Suburban Electrification is opened”, in Trains Illustrated, page 714

    We cannot forget the hurts and pain which have been dealt by the two opposing forces, but we must seek to heal the wounds and go forward. Are we going to allow the wounds to fester until we die, or are we big enough, collectively and individually, to write it off as a bad experience and begin to rebuild?

    1976 August 7, Kathy Guilmette, “Devil's Advocate”, in Gay Community News, page 4

    “Even after this utter devastation, most people in the Greenwood community, most African Americans in Tulsa said to themselves and to their larger community, ‘we shall not be moved.’ And they rebounded and rebuilt and created an incarnation of Black Wall Street that would surpass its initial version.”

    2021 May 20, Ashley Vaughan, “Remembering Black Wall Street: Ways to invest in Tulsa and champion Black businesses”, in CNN, archived from the original on 31 May 2021

    Synonyms: reassemble, reconstruct, remanufacture

  2. figurativelyTo attempt to improve one's performance during a period of struggling.

    After missing the playoffs for the seventh straight season in a row, the Detroit Red Wings are trying to rebuild.

nounrebuild (plural rebuilds)

plural rebuilds

  1. A process or result of rebuilding.

    Doc's spirits lifted at the suggestion that Cochrane was already thinking about painting the finished rebuild.

    2000, John Christgau, Sierra Sue II: The Story of a P-51 Mustang, page 138
    5 more examples

    Although the new features of the rebuilds were mainly the application of successful standard principles, the retention of the outside admission cylinders with their necessary high-pressure valve rod glands, of which the Southern lacked previous experience with an engine of this size, caused some unexpected teething troubles.

    1961 March, C. P. Boocock, “The organisation of Eastleigh Locomotive Works”, in Trains Illustrated, page 160

    The cost of the rebuild can quickly escalate with significant crankshaft and bearing work, and some folks allow the cost to keep them from doing the work, even when it is warranted.

    2000, Spencer Yost, How to Rebuild and Restore Farm Tractor Engines, page 100

    Torque Fasteners — Illustrates a fastener that must be properly tightened with a torque wrench at this point in the rebuild.

    2009, Tony Huntimer, How to Rebuild the Big-Block Chevrolet, page 5

    Lovingly restored and exquisitely maintained, the great frigate is docked at Boston and open to the public. She is still in commission and crewed by members of the U.S. Navy. After a number of rebuilds and modifications, the frigate Constellation is now anchored in Baltimore Harbor as a museum.

    2012, Ronald Utt, Ships of Oak, Guns of Iron: The War of 1812 and the Forging of the American Navy

    Approval has been granted for a £545 million rebuild of Paris Gare du Nord, despite fierce opposition. [...] Initially rejected in June 2019, the rebuild is intended to meet an expected increase in passenger numbers to 800,000 per day by 2023 and 900,000 by 2024.

    2020 August 12, “Network News: £545m rebuild of Gare du Nord”, in Rail, page 18

    Synonyms: reassembly, reconstruction, remake, remanufacture

  2. figuratively(said of sports teams) A period during which an attempt is made to improve during a period of struggling.

    Since they failed to make it to the playoffs after five consecutive seasons, the team has gone through a lengthy rebuild.

    Synonyms: reboot, re-creation, remaking

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo build again or anew.

nounA process or result of rebuilding.

noun(said of sports teams) A period during which an attempt is made to improve during a period of struggling.

More synonyms by meaning

verbbuild again

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Italic*wre-
  2. Latinre-
  3. Old Frenchre-
  4. Middle Englishre-
  5. Englishre-
  6. Proto-West Germanic*buþlijan
  7. Old Englishbytlan
  8. Middle Englishbilden
  9. Englishbuild
  10. Englishrebuild

From re- + build.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans herbou
  • herbouto build again
Bulgarian реконструи́рам
  • реконструи́рам (rekonstruíram)to build again
Catalan reconstruir
  • reconstruirto build again
Chinese Mandarin 重建, 再建
  • 重建 (chóngjiàn)to build again
  • 再建 (zàijiàn)to build again
  • 改筑 (gǎizhú)to build again
Dutch heropbouwen, wederopbouwen
  • heropbouwento build again
  • wederopbouwento build again
Esperanto rekonstrui
  • rekonstruito build again
Finnish jälleenrakentaa, rakentaa uudelleen
  • jälleenrakentaato build again
  • rakentaa uudelleento build again
French reconstruire
  • reconstruireto build again
German wiederaufbauen, umbauen
  • wiederaufbauento build again
  • umbauento build again
Greek ξαναχτίζω, ανοικοδομώ
  • ξαναχτίζω (xanachtízo)to build again
  • ανοικοδομώ (anoikodomó)to build again
Indonesian membangun ulang
  • membangun ulangto build again
Irish atóg
  • atógto build again
Italian ricostruire
  • ricostruireto build again
Japanese 建て直す, 再建する
  • 建て直す (tatenaosu)to build again
  • 再建する (saiken suru)to build again
Korean 재건하다
  • 재건하다 (jaegeonhada)to build again
Latin restaurō
  • restaurōto build again
Lithuanian atstatyti
  • atstatytito build again
Polish odbudowywać, odbudować
  • odbudowywaćto build again
  • odbudowaćto build again
Portuguese reconstruir
  • reconstruirto build again
Russian перестра́ивать, перестро́ить
  • перестра́ивать (perestráivatʹ)to build again
  • перестро́ить (perestróitʹ)to build again
Spanish reconstruir
  • reconstruirto build again
Swedish återuppbygga, rekonstruera
  • återuppbyggato build again
  • rekonstruerato build again
Vietnamese xây lại, xây dựng lại
  • xây lạito build again
  • xây dựng lạito build again

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with rebuild

All rhymes →

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

rebuild. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rebuild

MLA

“rebuild.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rebuild. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rebuild,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rebuild.

Source: rebuild on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.