come apart
idiom
variants
or come apart at the seams
: to break into parts or pieces : fail or be in very bad condition
This table is coming apart.
an old house that is coming apart at the seams
—often used figurativelya coalition that is coming apart
Their marriage is coming apart at the seams.
Examples of come apart in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Make sure the closure will come apart if the hat gets caught on something, for the baby's safety.
—
Casey Clark, Parents, 23 May 2024
The domestic consensus that long supported U.S. engagement abroad has come apart in the face of mounting partisan discord and a deepening rift between urban and rural Americans.
—Charles A. Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2021
The threads in the fabric just started to come apart.
—Valli Herman, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2024
But Take Note The clip for the drawstring might come apart too quickly on more active toddlers.
—Casey Clark, Parents, 23 May 2024
The report’s timeline of when exactly the program began to come apart is murky.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2024
The way this process has unfolded is causing the federal bankruptcy system to come apart, harming the plaintiffs and bankrupt entities alike.
—David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lawrence A. Friedman, WSJ, 4 Jan. 2024
The movie threatens to come apart at the seams a little here with a lot of expositional talk about how all this government of Spider-Men actually works.
—Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 25 Dec. 2023
As Sun starts to come apart under the pressure of her job, the writing gets more fragmented, and more experimental.
—Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2024
Casey Clark, Parents, 23 May 2024
The domestic consensus that long supported U.S. engagement abroad has come apart in the face of mounting partisan discord and a deepening rift between urban and rural Americans.
—Charles A. Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 20 Apr. 2021
The threads in the fabric just started to come apart.
—Valli Herman, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2024
But Take Note The clip for the drawstring might come apart too quickly on more active toddlers.
—Casey Clark, Parents, 23 May 2024
The report’s timeline of when exactly the program began to come apart is murky.
—Shomik Mukherjee, The Mercury News, 11 Mar. 2024
The way this process has unfolded is causing the federal bankruptcy system to come apart, harming the plaintiffs and bankrupt entities alike.
—David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lawrence A. Friedman, WSJ, 4 Jan. 2024
The movie threatens to come apart at the seams a little here with a lot of expositional talk about how all this government of Spider-Men actually works.
—Ars Staff, Ars Technica, 25 Dec. 2023
As Sun starts to come apart under the pressure of her job, the writing gets more fragmented, and more experimental.
—Anna Wiener, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'come apart.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Cite this Entry
“Come apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/come%20apart. Accessed 16 Jun. 2024.
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