disband
Americanverb (used with object)
-
disbands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disbanded,
past participle, past
-
disbanding
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
disbands,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disbanded,
past participle, past
-
disbanding
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disbandsimple
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disbandssimple
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have disbandedperfect
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has disbandedperfect
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am disbandingprogressive
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are disbandingprogressive
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is disbandingprogressive
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have been disbandingperfect progressive
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has been disbandingperfect progressive
Past
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disbandedsimple
-
had disbandedperfect
-
was disbandingprogressive
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were disbandingprogressive
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had been disbandingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disband
1585–95; < Middle French desbander, equivalent to des- dis- 1 + -bander, derivative of bande troop, band 1
Explanation
You know how rock bands are always forming and then breaking up? When they break up, they disband. The word disband refers to any group or unit of folks who decide to go their separate ways. Long before there were rock bands, groups of friends or warriors would band together for protection or companionship. They would become a band of sorts. The prefix dis comes from the Latin word for "apart." So if people come together to form a band — like Robin Hood's Merry Men — then if they disband, they decide to separate and break apart. Groups don't always disband because they want to. Sometimes police officers or government officials disband groups they believe are a nuisance or a threat.
Vocabulary lists containing disband
This Week in Words: August 13-18, 2017
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Nelson Mandela "I am Prepared to Die" (1964)
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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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:
Last year the PKK announced plans to disband and disarm, following a call from its jailed founder and longtime leader Ocalan.
From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026
Rather than disband the Vermont Rainbow Coalition after the 1984 primary, they kept the group going, endorsing candidates in campaigns for the legislature and statewide office in each of the next three election cycles.
From Salon ● Feb. 23, 2026
In 1949, Down Beat magazine, long a champion, even urged him to disband.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
It was the inner circle, a cabal I’d tried to disband for more than a decade.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026
Francie, usually dragging Neeley along, often followed the musicians from stop to stop, street to street, until it got dark and time for the musicians to disband.
From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" by Betty Smith
Before the mayor disbands the SRG, I would urge him to check the facts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
It disbands a myriad of existing working groups and replaces them with a centralized system.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024
The nine-member task force officially disbands Friday, but Democrat state Sen. Steven Bradford told the audience that the “final report is not the end of the work. It is really just the beginning.”
From Washington Times ● Jun. 29, 2023
While it has to be encouraging for Washington to get Backstrom back in his normal slot, the move disbands one of Washington’s most successful line combinations by breaking up Jakub Vrana, Lars Eller and Oshie.
From Washington Post ● May 19, 2018
What power disbands the Northern Lights After their steely play?
From Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War by Herman Melville
In yet another sign that the company is tightening its focus on commercial AI applications, Google disbanded its AlphaFold research team in July.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
Tegna disbanded, its shareholders were paid and top Tegna executives exited.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Since the group disbanded in 1987, he has become a serial collaborator, working with everyone from The Pretenders and Talking Heads to Bryan Ferry, Oasis, Blondie, Beck, Modest Mouse, The Cribs and Franz Ferdinand.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
When the group disbanded in the early 1980s, Johnson was forced to take jobs working construction and selling stereos, according to the documentary.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 18, 2026
The British ATA continued ferrying aircraft until the spring of 1946, though they officially disbanded in November 1945.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Before disbanding in 1991, it was the only such alliance in history whose members invaded each other.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026
He dramatically curbed the powers of the religious establishment, disbanding the Islamic police and ending the funding for ultra-conservative proselytization overseas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026
He announced the disbanding of the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team.
From Salon ● Dec. 23, 2025
Earlier this year, Nate Anderson, the founder of Hindenburg Research, announced that he was disbanding the company almost eight years after starting it.
From BBC ● Sep. 19, 2025
Chief Buthelezi called for the abolition of the Record of Understanding, the ending of CODESA, and the disbanding of Umkhonto we Sizwe.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
