take apart

verb

1. divide into pieces (Freq. 1)

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our department was dismembered when our funding dried up

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The Empire was discerped after the war

• Syn: ↑dismember, ↑discerp

• Hypernyms: ↑separate, ↑divide, ↑part

• Verb Frames:

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Somebody ——s something

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Something ——s something

2. take apart into its constituent pieces (Freq. 1)

• Syn: ↑disassemble, ↑dismantle, ↑break up, ↑break apart

• Ant: ↑assemble (for: ↑disassemble)

• Derivationally related forms: ↑dismantlement (for: ↑dismantle), ↑dismantling (for: ↑dismantle)

• Hypernyms: ↑destroy, ↑destruct

• Verb Frames:

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Somebody ——s something

3. make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features

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analyze a specimen

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analyze a sentence

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analyze a chemical compound

• Syn: ↑analyze, ↑analyse, ↑break down, ↑dissect

• Ant: ↑synthesize (for: ↑analyze)

• Derivationally related forms: ↑dissection (for: ↑dissect), ↑breakdown (for: ↑break down), ↑analyser (for: ↑analyse), ↑analyst (for: ↑analyze), ↑analyzer (for: ↑analyze)

• Hyponyms: ↑parse, ↑botanize, ↑botanise

• Verb Frames:

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Somebody ——s something

* * *

take apart [phrasal verb]

1 take apart (something) or take (something) apart : to remove or separate the parts of (something)

They practiced taking apart [=disassembling] their rifles and putting them back together again.

Help me take this puzzle apart.

2 take apart (something) or take (something) apart : to talk about the different parts of (an idea, story, etc.) often in order to criticize it

He takes apart the theory and shows its weaknesses.

3 take apart (someone) or take (someone) apart chiefly Brit : to badly beat (a person or team) in a game or contest

The champion really took the challenger apart in the second round.

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Main Entry: ↑take