take apart

verb

took apart; taken apart; taking apart; takes apart

transitive verb

1

: to disconnect the pieces of (something) : disassemble

take a machine apart

While the giant engines at the Waterworks were being taken apart piece by piece and examined for damage, temporary sources of power were sought.

—Jim Murphy

2

informal : to treat (someone or something) roughly or harshly : to tear into

The voice in his head that normally took him apart was cutting him some slack. Every now and then, it actually gave him some credit.

—David Corbett

Examples of take apart in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The set creates a good seal while remaining easy to take apart—even after creating high pressure by dry shaking egg whites. — Justine Sterling, Bon Appetit Magazine, 31 July 2026

Once on the market, it’s subsequently being taken apart by the competition. — John Tamny, Forbes.com, 29 July 2026

And Bobby’s huge quilted crop top and wrap skirt show clear signs of being sewn and then taken apart and resewn. — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 24 July 2026

Across the street, other workers are clearing the rubble from the old Highmark Stadium as it is taken apart piece by piece. — Matthew Fairburn, New York Times, 11 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1744, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for take apart

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