Dismantle

//dɪsˈmæntəl// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To take apart; to disassemble; to take to pieces. transitive

    "In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. The welfare state is dismantled. Essential public services are cut so that the rich may pay less tax."

  2. 2
    take off or remove wordnet
  3. 3
    To disprove a discourse, claim or argument. transitive

    "If we can dismantle hate rhetoric and explain why it is, in fact, illogical, is the language no longer dangerous?"

  4. 4
    take apart into its constituent pieces wordnet
  5. 5
    To divest, strip of dress or covering. transitive

    "This is most ſtrange, that ſhe, who even but now Was your beſt object, the argument of your praiſe, Balme of your age, moſt beſt, moſt deereſt, Should in this trice of time commit a thing So monſtrous, to diſmantell ſo many foulds of fauour, […]"

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  1. 6
    tear down so as to make flat with the ground wordnet
  2. 7
    To remove fittings or furnishings from. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
demolishdisassemblestriptake apartannihilateatomize

Example

More examples

"Japanese consumers are watching closely the U.S. government's efforts to make Japan dismantle various restrictions on imports of foreign goods into the country."

Etymology

From Middle French desmanteler, itself from des- (“dis-”), mantel (“coat”) + -er (verbal suffix).

Related phrases

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's housetake apart

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.