dismantle
Americanverb (used with object)
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to deprive or strip of apparatus, furniture, equipment, defenses, etc..
to dismantle a ship; to dismantle a fortress.
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to disassemble or pull down; take apart.
They dismantled the machine and shipped it in pieces.
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to divest of dress, covering, etc..
The wind dismantled the trees of their leaves.
verb
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to take apart
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to demolish or raze
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to strip of covering
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of dismantle
From the Middle French word desmanteler, dating back to 1570–80. See dis- 1, mantle
Explanation
To take something apart or down is to dismantle it. If you dismantle a computer to see what it looks like inside, you better know how to put it back together, or you might be looking at the inside of your room for awhile. Dismantle is a verb used for both physical things and ideas. You can dismantle a campground by taking down the tents and breaking apart the fire logs, or you can dismantle a government by going against its leadership and bringing down its rule. Often when you dismantle something, you take away its ability to work, as with a nuclear warhead, but you can also take apart decorative or non-working things, as when you dismantle a science-fair display or a city made of blocks.
Vocabulary lists containing dismantle
The Alchemist
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "D"
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A Long Way Gone
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The agency is known as The Committee to Dismantle the Regime of June 30, 1989, in reference the Islamist-backed military coup that brought al-Bashir to power.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 14, 2022
While Bono agrees that his band "sound amazing", he said he does not like the sound of his own voice at all, except on Vertigo, which featured on How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.
From BBC • Jan. 19, 2022
Sudan became a centre for money laundering and terrorism financing, said Wagdi Salih, a leading member of the task force - the Committee to Dismantle the June 30, 1989 Regime and Retrieve Public Funds.
From Reuters • Sep. 23, 2021
At the same session, Marlyn Tillman, of the Gwinnett Parent Coalition to Dismantle the School to Prison Pipeline in Georgia, criticized what she called the “lack of transparency and intentionality” in organizing the sessions.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 7, 2018
Dismantle that cordon of forts which you have built for our benefit, and we may take some stock in your Pecksniffian professions of friendship.
From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 10 by Brann, William Cowper
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
