teardown

1 of 2

noun

tear·​down ˈter-ˌdau̇n 

: the act or process of disassembling

tear down

2 of 2

verb

tore down; torn down; tearing down; tears down

transitive verb

1

a

: to cause to decompose or disintegrate

b

: vilify, denigrate

trying to tear down his reputation

2

: to take apart : disassemble

tear down an engine

Synonyms

Verb

• destroy
• ruin
• demolish
• shatter
• wreck
• devastate
• smash
• overcome
• pull down
• damage

Examples of teardown in a Sentence

Verb

vandals tore down the wooden fence blocking the entrance to the beach

the new owners apparently bought the house just to tear it down and build a lavish mansion in its place

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

The city’s budget, a City Hall overhaul, housing affordability and controversy over teardown-rebuilds are driving a slate of candidates to run to rally against changes in the city. —Taylor O'Connor, Kansas City Star, 9 Oct. 2025

These teardowns got pretty routine for a while, as Apple settled into a fairly consistent design for iPhones, but the new design of the iPhone Air offered an opportunity for compelling observations. —Ryan Whitwam, ArsTechnica, 22 Sep. 2025

Verb

Portobello is a true story of police power, failures of the justice system, and the power of media to create and then tear down stars or icons. —Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 11 Oct. 2025

The Madison Avenue office served as JPMorgan’s temporary headquarters while 270 Park was going up (the bank tore down its old headquarters to build 270, taking advantage of the Midtown East rezoning to go bigger). —Kim Velsey, Curbed, 9 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1926, in the meaning defined above

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for teardown

• adown
• blowdown
• breakdown
• countdown
• crackdown
• crosstown
• downtown
• drawdown
• dropdown
• facedown
• godown
• hometown

Kids Definition

tear down

verb

: to knock down and break into pieces

tear down an old building