carve up

verb

carved up; carving up; carves up

usually disapproving

: to divide something into small parts

The once beautiful countryside has been carved up by developers.

Examples of carve up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

For every $1 a customer spends on a chocolate bar, only around 6 cents goes to farmers, with the rest carved up among those who mill the cocoa, make the chocolate, and sell it to consumers. — Colette Davidson, Christian Science Monitor, 22 Aug. 2026

After the Ottoman Empire fell, the region had been carved up, and the Jabaras now hailed not from Syria but from Lebanon. — Rozina Ali, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026

Kathleen Crawford, chair of the county Democratic Party, was enthusiastic about the county getting carved up. — Nicholas Riccardi, Los Angeles Times, 17 Aug. 2026

Mayfield also carved up the Jets’ defense during the Buccaneers’ two-minute offense. — Antwan Staley, New York Daily News, 13 Aug. 2026

Rhymes for carve up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup