disassemble
Americanverb (used with object)
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disassembles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disassembled,
past participle, past
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disassembling
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
disassembles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disassembled,
past participle, past
-
disassembling
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disassemblesimple
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disassemblessimple
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have disassembledperfect
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has disassembledperfect
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am disassemblingprogressive
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are disassemblingprogressive
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is disassemblingprogressive
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have been disassemblingperfect progressive
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has been disassemblingperfect progressive
Past
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disassembledsimple
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had disassembledperfect
-
was disassemblingprogressive
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were disassemblingprogressive
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had been disassemblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disassemble
Explanation
The verb disassemble means to take something apart. It's one thing to disassemble a computer; it's a whole other thing to put it back together again. If you take your car to the repair shop to have a squeaky brake fixed, you'll be surprised to see the mechanics quickly disassemble your car, removing even its wheels and doors. You can use the word disassemble whenever something's dismantled or broken into pieces. Originally, disassemble meant "to disperse," or to stop a crowd of people from assembling, but the meaning changed to its current definition in the 1600s.
Vocabulary lists containing disassemble
Commonly Confused Words, List 4
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"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 9
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The Kill Order
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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.
See Examples For:
Everything that the casual moviegoer would consider “wrong” about Jenkin’s approach is what makes his films so transcendently jarring as they seemingly disassemble in front of our eyes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
For nearly half an hour, the soldier demonstrates different types of ammunition and how to assemble and disassemble the Kalashnikov using illustrated boards set up behind him on Haft-e Tir Square.
From Barron's ● May 19, 2026
"However, there have been stacks created on parts of Mam Tor, and staff and volunteers will infrequently disassemble any found."
From BBC ● Jul. 5, 2025
"In other words, we can disassemble the fabric so that we can recycle far more textiles in the future."
From Science Daily ● Jan. 13, 2024
The basement in their North Logan home was an electronics graveyard that included Keith’s first Atari, an ancient model he’d sometimes pull out, disassemble, then solder back together as an improved version.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
“This is art that summons, that creates what should be and disassembles what should not,” Toni Morrison wrote in the introduction to “Lost and Found,” a limited-edition 1989 portfolio of Ms. Maynard’s lithographs.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2022
As she stomps and shouts and disassembles, I sit here, still cross-legged on the bed, and wonder whether it’s too late in the day to jump on a train and head into work.
From The Verge ● Aug. 1, 2022
Gold Fame Citrus by Claire Vaye Watkins In her bold and strange novel, Watkins disassembles the mythology of the American west, paying particular attention to its brutal expansionism and unquestioned promise of personal reinvention.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 12, 2020
The founder of Munro & Associates, a small Detroit-area firm that disassembles and analyzes new cars, said, “A lot of crow is being eaten around here.”
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 16, 2018
The energy yield depends on the amount of uranium and the time it can be held together before it disassembles itself.
From Textbooks ● Aug. 12, 2015
The German firm said it had disassembled the rocket to carry out investigations.
From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026
She digitally "disassembled" the fossil one bone at a time and uncovered several anatomical features that differed from known Hesperosuchus specimens.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 30, 2026
"The Claw will be disassembled immediately after the event concludes," Joshua Fisher, Director for White House Management and Administration, said in the papers.
From Barron's ● Jun. 11, 2026
Bicycle parts were of particular interest, hence the tented “bike shops,” with piles of disassembled parts, so common in L.A. encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 13, 2026
I’ve been disassembled, my insides on the cold concrete porch.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
From all accounts, Israeli and American military strikes are meeting and even exceeding their goals of disassembling the regime’s infrastructure.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
The team is disassembling at a rate fans are apprehensive about.
From BBC ● Feb. 2, 2026
The move involved disassembling the Vault sets and transporting them across the country in 77 semitrucks to be rebuilt again — this time all connected on one sound stage — in L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 14, 2026
There, Mark finds Gemma serenely disassembling the crib, and coaxes her to run with him.
From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2025
The next time we saw him, he was in uniform, assigned to motion study training in assembling and disassembling the Lewis machine gun and other automatic weapons.
From "Cheaper by the Dozen" by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey
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.
