disassemble

verb

dis·​as·​sem·​ble ˌdis-ə-ˈsem-bəl How to pronounce disassemble (audio)
disassembled; disassembling; disassembles

transitive verb

: to take apart
disassemble a watch

intransitive verb

1
: to come apart
the frame disassembles into sections
2
: disperse, scatter
the crowd began to disassemble
disassembly noun

Examples of disassemble in a Sentence

The bookshelf disassembles for easy storage. they had to disassemble the television set in order to replace the wiring
Recent Examples on the Web At Bodrum, on Amsterdam Avenue on the Upper West Side, Huseyin Ozer, an owner, said the 40-foot unit in the roadway outside his restaurant had planters, could be customized with signage, will allow for 16 seats and is easy to disassemble. Florence Fabricant, New York Times, 11 Mar. 2024 Those recollections led her to disassemble some of the world's richest people in her book, but Swisher isn't worried about the blowback. Michael Liedtke, Quartz, 26 Feb. 2024 When you’re finished, the unit disassembles easily. Belle Duchene, Better Homes & Gardens, 8 Feb. 2024 Trains roll into the facilities, where they are disassembled, reconditioned to near-factory specifications, and then sent back out into a railroad that functions as New York’s vascular system, pumping more than a billion riders across 345 million miles each year, 24 hours a day, every day. David Waldstein, New York Times, 1 Mar. 2024 Given this feedback loop, Sandberg and Armstrong argued, these robots could disassemble Mercury in a matter of decades. Karl Schroeder, IEEE Spectrum, 24 Feb. 2024 In order to get the panels apart, someone would have had to disassemble every mechanism. The Arizona Republic, 28 Jan. 2024 The team has finished disassembling the canister head. Will Sullivan, Smithsonian Magazine, 23 Jan. 2024 Its modules and truss structure were not designed to be easily disassembled in space, while allowing for an unplanned atmospheric re-entry posed too much of a threat to populated areas. Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 16 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'disassemble.' 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

1881, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of disassemble was in 1881

Dictionary Entries Near disassemble

Cite this Entry

“Disassemble.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disassemble. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

disassemble

verb
dis·​as·​sem·​ble ˌdis-ə-ˈsem-bəl How to pronounce disassemble (audio)
: to take apart
disassemble an engine
disassembly noun

More from Merriam-Webster on disassemble

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