pick apart

Idioms  

1. Also, pick holes in or pick to pieces. Find flaws in something by close examination, criticize sharply, as in The lawyer picked apart the testimony, or He found it easy to pick holes in their argument, or The new editor picked her manuscript to pieces. These expressions use pick in the sense of “pierce” or “poke,” a usage dating from the 1300s; pick holes in dates from the mid-1600s, pick to pieces from the mid-1800s.

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Example Sentences

When new car models roll off the assembly line, they are immediately picked apart and reverse-engineered by the competition.

From The Wall Street Journal

So far this season, fans have picked apart scenes and gone through past seasons in an attempt to piece together how it all might end in the Upside Down.

From BBC

Herbert should have time to pick apart this Dallas defense, and look for rookie tight end Oronde Gadsden II to get more involved than he has been in recent weeks.

From Los Angeles Times

The ghost of “Beloved” is psychological, picking apart Sethe’s traumatic experience of slavery and her guilt from murdering her infant.

From The Wall Street Journal

That was plenty for Snell, who picked apart a Reds offense that ranked just 14th in scoring and 19th in batting average during the regular season.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• admonish
• berate
• castigate
• chastise
• chide
• denounce
• discipline
• rebuff
• rebuke
• reprimand
• reproach
• scold