dismember

[ dis-mem-ber ]
See synonyms for dismember on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object)
  1. to deprive of limbs; divide limb from limb: The ogre dismembered his victims before he ate them.

  2. to divide into parts; cut to pieces; mutilate.

  1. 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.

Origin of dismember

1
1250–1300; Middle English dismembren<Anglo-French, Old French desmembrer, equivalent to des-dis-1 + -membrer, verbal derivative of membremember

Other words from dismember

  • dis·mem·ber·er, noun
  • dis·mem·ber·ment, noun
  • non·dis·mem·ber·ment, noun

Words that may be confused with dismember

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use dismember in a sentence

  • No mention was made of Austria, which the treaty of Presburg had sufficiently dismembered.

    The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | William Milligan Sloane
  • Was the ancient monarchy really to be humiliated and remain permanently dismembered?

    The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte | William Milligan Sloane
  • He envisaged the possibility of a vanquished and dismembered France.

    The Bronze Eagle | Emmuska Orczy, Baroness Orczy
  • And on the instant rose that terrible distressing scream of acute agony—like that of a woman being dismembered.

  • Coke objected to having the King's evidence dismembered, 'whereby it might lose much of its grace and vigour.'

    Sir Walter Ralegh | William Stebbing

British Dictionary definitions for dismember

dismember

/ (dɪsˈmɛmbə) /


verb(tr)
  1. to remove the limbs or members of

  2. to cut to pieces

  1. to divide or partition (something, such as an empire)

Derived forms of dismember

  • dismemberer, noun
  • dismemberment, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012