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.
“So we tried to take apart those two risks,” he said—the biology risk and the technology risk.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
"We wanted to take apart these coded messages and figure out which molecules were, themselves, therapeutic."
From Science Daily ● Dec. 5, 2025
However, recycling vapes is not straightforward because of their size and the way they are manufactured, which makes them difficult to take apart.
From BBC ● Nov. 5, 2024
If "Game of Thrones" fell into the same Madonna-Whore trap that Martin laid to take apart, "House of the Dragon" is much more careful in its depiction of Alys, who stays comfortably in her clothes.
From Salon ● Aug. 10, 2024
Before we went home, we watched for a while as the workmen started to take apart the railroad trestle.
From "The (Mostly) True Story of Cleopatra's Needle" by Dan Gutman
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.
