anatomize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cut apart (an animal or plant) to show or examine the position, structure, and relation of the parts; display the anatomy of; dissect.
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to examine in great detail; analyze minutely.
The couple anatomized their new neighbor.
verb
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to dissect (an animal or plant)
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to examine in minute detail
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of anatomize
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle French anatomiser or < Medieval Latin anatomizāre. See anatomy, -ize
Vocabulary lists containing anatomize
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.
They make their lives from the bits of gender and love and culture they’ve been given, and there’s no place to stand outside that messy process and anatomize, dissect or categorize them.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2021
They anatomize sunspots by way of US astronomer George Ellery Hale, who pioneered their observation with his 1889 invention of the spectroheliograph.
From Nature • Jul. 18, 2017
Leigh’s work has largely been focused on contemporary ensemble pieces that anatomize British society, made in collaboration with a dedicated repertory of actors who fashion each film from an intensive process of improvised rehearsals.
From Washington Post • Dec. 26, 2014
As tech bloggers ripped open the latest iPhone to anatomize its guts, a ritual known as a “teardown,” you could sense deflation.
From Forbes • Oct. 9, 2013
"We anatomize flies," replied the philosopher, "we measure lines, we make calculations, we agree upon two or three points which we understand, and dispute upon two or three thousand that are beyond our comprehension."
From Voltaire's Romances, Complete in One Volume by
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.
