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 figurativelyHis 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
Split biscuits in half horizontally by making a small cut with a paring knife and pulling apart with hands.
—
Tiffany Vickers Davis, Southern Living, 19 Oct. 2024
To expand the number of districts with a significant percentage of Latino voters, multiple districts probably would have to be pulled apart and then reconfigured, redistricting expert Paul Mitchell said.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2024
The ad, which is still live at the time of writing, leads to an external webpage featuring an illustration of Donald Trump pulling apart his shirt at the buttons to reveal a Superman-style costume beneath with a ‘T’ logo.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 4 Sep. 2024
Because their corpses were so heavy, they were sometimes left to decompose until they could be pulled apart and removed piecemeal.
—David Owen, The New Yorker, 27 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pull apart 
Tiffany Vickers Davis, Southern Living, 19 Oct. 2024
To expand the number of districts with a significant percentage of Latino voters, multiple districts probably would have to be pulled apart and then reconfigured, redistricting expert Paul Mitchell said.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2024
The ad, which is still live at the time of writing, leads to an external webpage featuring an illustration of Donald Trump pulling apart his shirt at the buttons to reveal a Superman-style costume beneath with a ‘T’ logo.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 4 Sep. 2024
Because their corpses were so heavy, they were sometimes left to decompose until they could be pulled apart and removed piecemeal.
—David Owen, The New Yorker, 27 July 2024
See all Example Sentences for pull apart
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pull apart.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near pull apart
Cite this Entry
“Pull apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pull%20apart. Accessed 25 Oct. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share