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
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
The robotic arms can automatically take apart a device like a data center server and manage the electronics for reuse or recycling. Katie Fehrenbacher, Axios, 9 Oct. 2024 His people took apart the consoles and throttle, making Big Alice a glorified server under the control of the Snowpiercer engine — at least Wilford isn’t here to see this. Rafael Motamayor, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2024 Trump’s statecraft is a response to a changing world and to demand signals from the U.S. electorate, not a capricious effort to take apart the world that the United States made. Charles Kupchan, Foreign Affairs, 9 Sep. 2024 Time took apart the mountains, and rain dissolved most of the minerals in them, but the quartz remained. Kathryn Schulz, The New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2024 See all Example Sentences for take apart 

Word History

First Known Use

1744, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of take apart was in 1744

Dictionary Entries Near take apart

Cite this Entry

“Take apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/take%20apart. Accessed 14 Nov. 2024.

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