take apart

verb

took apart; taken apart; taking apart; takes apart

transitive verb

1
: to disconnect the pieces of (something) : disassemble
take a machine apart
While the giant engines at the Waterworks were being taken apart piece by piece and examined for damage, temporary sources of power were sought.Jim Murphy
2
informal : to treat (someone or something) roughly or harshly : to tear into
The voice in his head that normally took him apart was cutting him some slack. Every now and then, it actually gave him some credit.David Corbett

Examples of take apart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web What remains after an aircraft is taken apart, especially metals and plastics, are almost always recycled in some way. Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 17 Mar. 2024 But Ukrainian engineers have had the opportunity to take apart several Shaheds and work out the vulnerabilities of their navigation system. David Hambling, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 Agassi, Gilbert said, had a photographic memory and an analytical mind that could take apart a match hours later, stroke by stroke, with total recall. Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 2 Sep. 2023 The European Space Agency said on January 31 that preparations are underway to begin taking apart an Ariane 6 rocket on its launch pad in Kourou, French Guiana. Stephen Clark, Ars Technica, 2 Feb. 2024 Other Israeli officials have called for UNRWA in its current form to be taken apart. Tim Lister, CNN, 1 Feb. 2024 There was gardening to do, color-coding the closet, taking apart doorknobs, trying to put doorknobs back together and trips to Home Depot at 3 a.m. to look at light fixtures and nails. Hannah Sward, Twin Cities, 5 Jan. 2024 The free disposal process doesn’t involve smelting or crushing, but the guns rather are taken apart, with the receiver or frame being the only piece destroyed. Detroit Free Press, 10 Jan. 2024 But the biggest takeaway of them all is that the Hollywood labor contract negotiating process needs to be taken apart and rebuilt for the modern era. Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 9 Nov. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'take apart.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1744, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of take apart was in 1744

Dictionary Entries Near take apart

Cite this Entry

“Take apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take%20apart. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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