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

Top Plays from Bears @ Panthers Canales’ film review will reveal a defense, despite the $165 million spent on free agents Phillips and Devin Lloyd over the winter, getting taken apart by Williams and the Bears’ rushing attack. — Joseph Person, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026

It gets built when there’s a job to do and taken apart when the job is done. — Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2026

Cronenberg is fascinated by a body that is taken apart and reimagined. — Rafa Sales Ross, Variety, 28 Aug. 2026

At that time, the boardwalk was only 1 mile long and 8 feet wide, and it could be taken apart and preserved during the winter. — Ryan Hughes, CBS News, 19 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1744, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for take apart

• art
• cart
• carte
• chart
• dart
• fart
• haart
• mart
• part
• smart
• start
• tart