pull apart

phrasal 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

These panels pull apart easily and pack flat. —New Atlas, 10 Nov. 2025

The duplication begins with the two strands of DNA pulling apart like a zipper. —Orianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 9 Nov. 2025

Sticking with the Cowboys would have been a disaster, as the Eagles methodically pulled apart their NFC East foes by a 41-7 margin. —Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 7 Nov. 2025

Now era long, straight hair, sits up as the pastoral scene is literally pulled apart by stagehands, revealed as nothing more than show business trickery. —Lauren Huff, Entertainment Weekly, 6 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for pull apart

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