dismantle

Dismantle is defined as to take apart or take to pieces.

(verb)

When you take apart a Lego castle so all you have left is individual Legos, this is an example of when you dismantle the castle.

See dismantle in Webster's New World College Dictionary

Origin: OFr desmanteller, to take off one's cloak: see dis- & mantle

Related Forms:

See dismantle in American Heritage Dictionary 4

transitive verb dis·man·tled, dis·man·tling, dis·man·tles

a. To take apart; disassemble; tear down.
b. To put an end to in a gradual systematic way: dismantling the cumbersome regulations for interstate trucking.
To strip of furnishings or equipment: dismantled the house before knocking it down.
To strip of covering or clothing.

Origin:

Origin: Obsolete French desmanteler, to raze fortifications round a town

Origin: , from Old French

Origin: : des-, dis-

Origin: + (em)manteler, to cover with a coat, shelter (ultimately from mantel, cloak; see mantle)

Related Forms: