take apart
Britishverb
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to separate (something) into component parts
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to criticize or punish severely
the reviewers took the new play apart
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Dismantle or disassemble, as in They had to take apart the stereo before they could move it . This usage was first recorded in 1936.
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Examine thoroughly, analyze or dissect, as in The teacher embarrassed Tom by taking his thesis apart in front of the class . [Mid-1900s]
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Beat up, thrash, as in You'd better be careful; those boys will take you apart . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]
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.
They backed up Sunday's astonishing comeback victory at champions Liverpool by taking apart Fulham in the first half on Wednesday night.
From BBC
Ominously they take on France, the defending champions who took apart Ireland on Thursday night, next weekend.
From BBC
I’m kneeling on the floor, reassembling a chair I took apart.
From Literature
"You have to make things easy to take apart, so that people clean them. The bottom line is, if it's not easy to take apart, you don't clean it."
From BBC
"We wanted to take apart these coded messages and figure out which molecules were, themselves, therapeutic."
From Science Daily
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.
