construe

construe (something) as (something)

To view or interpret something in a particular way. Although I believe that he's innocent, I can see how one could easily construe his actions as a crime. Lucy is trying to construe this as a misunderstanding on our part when, the reality is, she lied to all of us! Hey, don't try to construe me as the bad guy here just because I turned them into the police. They were, in fact, breaking the law!
See also: construe
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

construe something as something

to interpret something to mean something. Please do not construe this as criticism. We mistakenly construed her comments as positive.
See also: construe
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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