pull apart

verb

pulled apart; pulling apart; pulls apart

1

: to be separated into parts or pieces by pulling

The rolls pull apart easily.

2

: to separate or break (something) into parts or pieces

She pulled the rolls apart with her hands.

—sometimes used figuratively

His gambling problem is pulling the family apart.

3

: to separate (people or animals) in order to stop a fight

Customers stepped in and pulled the two men apart.

Examples of pull apart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

When a larger galaxy pulls apart a smaller dwarf galaxy, the dwarf’s stars can stretch into a stream — a cosmic breadcrumb trail of that encounter. — Taylor Nicioli, CNN Money, 13 Aug. 2026

Tension is a force that causes things to pull apart or stretch. — Tim Carter, Hartford Courant, 25 July 2026

However, at the peak of the event, the ridge was pulling apart a 5 cm each minute, nearly half a million times over its long term average. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 9 July 2026

Across a massive network of underwater mountain chains known as mid-ocean ridges, tectonic plates slowly pull apart, belching molten rock at the spreading seams. — Sam MacDonald, Scientific American, 8 July 2026

Rhymes for pull apart

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