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
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One of the most interesting is a submarine set, which is built to be taken apart and filmed in pieces. Ryan Fleming, Deadline, 22 Nov. 2024 After the band members were done using it, the original prototype was retired, taken apart and put in storage. Julia Binswanger, Smithsonian Magazine, 29 Oct. 2024 The requirement that the church be easily assembled by non-skilled volunteers made Ban imagine that the structure could well be taken apart and used at another disaster site as required. Justin Davidson, Curbed, 18 July 2024 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 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 25 Dec. 2024.

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