dismember
Americanverb (used with object)
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to deprive of limbs; divide limb from limb.
The ogre dismembered his victims before he ate them.
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to divide into parts; cut to pieces; mutilate.
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to reduce, reorganize, or discontinue the services or parts of (a company, government agency, etc.).
Our business was dismembered by the conglomerate that bought it.
verb
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to remove the limbs or members of
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to cut to pieces
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to divide or partition (something, such as an empire)
Other Word Forms
- dismemberer noun
- dismemberment noun
- nondismemberment noun
Etymology
Origin of dismember
1250–1300; Middle English dismembren < Anglo-French, Old French desmembrer, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + -membrer, verbal derivative of membre member
Explanation
The verb dismember means to sever the limbs from a body. If you watch a horror movie, one of the necessary plot elements is for the villain to dismember a body or two... or twelve. Dismember is from the Latin word dismembrare, which itself is from the Latin roots de, meaning "take away," and membrum, meaning "limb." The verb dismember also means to cut up into pieces or take apart. If you are doing genealogical research on your family tree you may have difficulty if your ancestors are from a region that was dismembered. You may know your family was from the Soviet Union, for example, but since that country was dismembered, you now may need to check records in Uzbekistan or Azerbaijan to find the branches of your family tree.
Vocabulary lists containing dismember
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act III
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Siddhartha
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Lincoln Inaugural Address (March 1861)
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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.
He’s seen ants work as a team to dismember prey in minutes.
From National Geographic • Jan. 22, 2024
Microsoft famously ignored having a Washington presence until the Justice Department attempted to dismember it on antitrust grounds.
From Washington Post • Mar. 13, 2023
Instead, the victors deprived the French of their conquests and imposed a modest indemnity, but they did not dismember the country.
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2020
“I stand with them. Our job is to strengthen the V.A. in order to provide high-quality care to our veterans, not dismember it.”
From New York Times • Mar. 28, 2018
I’m pretty sure the only thing you could dismember is a sandwich.”
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
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.
