Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To take apart; disassemble; tear down.
- transitive verb To put an end to in a gradual systematic way.
- transitive verb To strip of furnishings or equipment.
- transitive verb To strip of covering or clothing.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To deprive of dress; strip; divest; undress.
- To loose; throw open or off; undo.
- Specifically—3. To deprive or strip of apparatus, furniture, equipments, defenses, or the like: as, to
dismantle a ship, a fortress, a town, etc. - To break down; make useless; destroy.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To strip or deprive of dress; to divest.
- transitive verb To strip of furniture and equipments, guns, etc.; to unrig; to strip of walls or outworks; to break down.
- transitive verb To disable; to render useless.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb originally To
divest , strip ofdress orcovering - verb To
remove fittings orfurnishings from - verb To
take apart ; todisassemble ; to take to pieces
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb take apart into its constituent pieces
- verb take off or remove
- verb tear down so as to make flat with the ground
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin dismantle social safety nets for short term economic gains influenced Clinton
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Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin dismantle social safety nets for short term economic gains influenced Clinton
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At his lunch with Reagan and Bush just after the speech, one American asked, “Did we hear that word dismantle right?”
American Sketches Walter Isaacson 2009
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Good Old "Ron Paul", has always campaigned that we should 'dismantle' our CIA.
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So why are we suddenly hearing clamorous cries that we should, as the National Journal put it, "dismantle" this 40-year success story?
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That structure, in which Mr. Burke will more directly oversee the broadcast and cable networks, would effectively " dismantle " Mr. Gaspin ' s existing job, some of those people said.
Gaspin to Leave NBC Universal Sam Schechner 2010
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One official said Monday's arrests will likely 'dismantle' the Inland Empire skinhead clan.
Archive 2009-04-19 Bill Crider 2009
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The Republicans were very good at finding some little pieces to nit pick at, and be able to use those little pieces to go out, day-by - day, and really kind of dismantle the president and the White House's effort.
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In other developments on Wednesday, Defence Minister A. K Antony asserted that India had 'all available and possible options' open and asked Pakistan to book those who gave 'inspiration, direction and support' to the Mumbai attacks and to 'dismantle' the terror outfits functioning from its territory.
GroundReport: Captured Mumbai Terrorist Is Pakistani, Admits Government 2009
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Another preacher said British Muslims must "dismantle" British democracy - they must "live like a state within a state" until they are "strong enough to take over."
Keith Ellison's offended foot-soldiers and what didn't offend the Muslims? 2007
ruzuzu commented on the word dismantle
This word is surprisingly creepy.
September 23, 2011
hernesheir commented on the word dismantle
Now that I reside in the Mountain West, I miss dismantling fresh-harvested Gulf clams and oysters by the bucketful. I guess that makes me feel surprisingly creepy.
September 23, 2011
ruzuzu commented on the word dismantle
Say, that reminds me. Do we have any oyster lists around here?
September 23, 2011