dismantle
Americanverb (used with object)
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dismantles,
present (3rd person singular)
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dismantled,
past participle, past
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dismantling
present participle
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to deprive or strip of apparatus, furniture, equipment, defenses, etc..
to dismantle a ship; to dismantle a fortress.
-
to disassemble or pull down; take apart.
They dismantled the machine and shipped it in pieces.
-
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dismantlesimple
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dismantlessimple
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have dismantledperfect
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has dismantledperfect
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am dismantlingprogressive
-
are dismantlingprogressive
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is dismantlingprogressive
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have been dismantlingperfect progressive
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has been dismantlingperfect progressive
Past
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dismantledsimple
-
had dismantledperfect
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was dismantlingprogressive
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were dismantlingprogressive
-
had been dismantlingperfect progressive
Future
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.
See Examples For:
The misconduct investigation has put the institution under a glaring spotlight, intensified divisions inside it and played out alongside an unprecedented campaign to weaken, and in fact dismantle, the ICC in its entirety.
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
It directs every relevant agency to investigate and dismantle its operations.
From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026
Alongside the recommendations, the EU has ramped up the pressure on social media platforms to change, telling Facebook and Instagram Friday to dismantle their "addictive" features, after a similar warning to TikTok in February.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
The executive order is part of the Trump administration’s effort to dismantle Mexican drug cartels that includes the Jalisco New Genertion Cartel and the Beltran Leyva Organization.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
“The Soviet government,” continued the announcer, “has issued a new order to dismantle the arms you describe as offensive, and to crate and return them to the Soviet Union.”
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
“Collaboration recovers children sooner, links investigation, dismantles trafficking organizations and holds traffickers accountable. A trafficker should never escape accountability because critical information was sitting in another agency’s database.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
Justice Elena Kagan’s majority opinion on Monday dismantles that theory piece by piece.
From Slate ● Jun. 29, 2026
The agreement requires the Lebanese state to take back control of its territory a little at a time as it disarms and dismantles the militant group.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
"This obviously completely dismantles Hugo Chavez’s oil model," said oil analyst Francisco Monaldi, while pointing out that the state will retain some discretion over the issuing of contracts to private players.
From Barron's ● Jan. 29, 2026
He dismantles the machine, stares into its circuits, lets his fingers trace the journeys of electrons.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
The Israeli military said security forces dismantled two illegal outposts set up by settlers near the villages of Qusra and Jalud.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
In a statement, the military also said that it had struck several areas across Gaza and dismantled five Hamas weapons storage facilities.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
According to Clark, who also authors the Capital Flows and Asset Markets blog, the financial architecture built during the Thatcher-Reagan revolution of the 1980s is being dismantled.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
After going close through more slick attacking play, England dismantled Argentina's scrum, allowing Earl to dot down before another melee broke out during the celebrations.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
After test assembling every part the truss was dismantled and hoisted piece by piece to the top of the walls.
From "Cathedral: The Story of Its Construction" by David Macaulay
Polizzi estimated that he’d spend more than $50,000 trying to get proper city approvals before dismantling the treehouse in 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
“So while AI is shifting the labor market, it is not dismantling it.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
For 58 seasons, through wars, impeachments and the corporate dismantling of the network news business around it, “60 Minutes” remained America’s highest-rated newsmagazine.
From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026
“Hiring has also increased over last year by 25%, so while AI is shifting the labor market, it is not dismantling it,” Andy Challenger, who tracks workplace data and trends, told the Journal.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Only in the second half of the twentieth century, with the dismantling of legal barriers to opportunity, did the lines begin to blur.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
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.
