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

• annihilate
• cream
• decimate
• demolish
• desolate
• destroy
• devastate
• do in
• extinguish
• nuke
• pull down
• pulverize
• raze
• rub out
• ruin
• shatter
• smash
• total
• vaporize
• waste
• wrack
• wreck

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

This isn’t about a teardown or trying to punt the last of Pete Carroll’s guys from the locker room (re-signing Reed disputes that second point, anyway). —Michael-Shawn Dugar, The Athletic, 10 Mar. 2025

The first part of the Sharks’ rebuild, the teardown, has gone as Grier intended. —Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 4 Mar. 2025

Verb

Saddled by a series of vacancies, the owner of Simsbury Commons is contemplating tearing down a little more than half of the complex’s retail core and putting up as many as 300 apartments. —Don Stacom, Hartford Courant, 26 Mar. 2025

President Trump signed an executive order last week that compels federal agencies to tear down internal barriers to sharing government data, with no new cybersecurity requirements to prevent misuse or breaches. —Sam Sabin, Axios, 25 Mar. 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