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

This is a solid no-frills French-style croissant, something to pull apart with a morning coffee, but not eat as a sandwich. —Kimberly Cataudella Tutuska, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024

The inside would be soft from the eggs, ready to be pulled apart with our hands. —Sanaë Lemoine, Harper's Magazine, 2 Feb. 2024

Here's how to pull this prank off: To make the crackers, pull apart several vanilla sandwich cookies. —Kimberly Stoney, Parents, 21 Mar. 2024

To check for doneness, use a sharp knife to cut into the thickest part of the meat; when cooked, the flesh will start to pull apart and almost flake. —Robin Miller, The Arizona Republic, 14 Feb. 2024

Keep the handles pulled apart and twist out the metal. —Jeanne Huber, Washington Post, 16 Feb. 2024

The mountain formed from the sedate shifts of the nearby mid-Atlantic ridge, where the North American and African tectonic plates slowly pull apart. —Quanta Magazine, 4 Jan. 2024

Rich passages of harmonic concord suddenly split into straying sonorities, as though pulled apart by a prism. —Michael Andor Brodeur, Washington Post, 11 Jan. 2024

Place covered pan back in the oven and cook till the meat pulls apart using just a fork. —The View, ABC News, 5 Jan. 2024