disassemble

verb

dis·​as·​sem·​ble ˌdis-ə-ˈsem-bəl 

disassembled; disassembling; disassembles

transitive verb

: to take apart

disassemble a watch

intransitive verb

1

: to come apart

the frame disassembles into sections

2

: disperse, scatter

the crowd began to disassemble

disassembly

ˌdis-ə-ˈsem-blē 

noun

Synonyms of disassemble

• dismantle
• detach
• disconnect
• dismount

Examples of disassemble in a Sentence

The bookshelf disassembles for easy storage.

they had to disassemble the television set in order to replace the wiring

Recent Examples on the Web

To help textile mills assess the impact of their headers, Fabscrap also developed a Smart Swatch Scorecard, which assigns header designs a grade, based on the number of components and the relative ease of disassembling them. — Bella Webb, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2026

Workers are in the midst of disassembling the old plant, a process that is expected to be completed next year. — John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 4 Oct. 2026

Teams devised an unprecedented bit of spaceship surgery to replace the valve without draining the propellant and disassembling the spacecraft, steps that would have triggered a much longer delay. — Stephen Clark, ArsTechnica, 1 Oct. 2026

Each session creates another set of parts that must be stored, carried, disassembled, and cleaned. — Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 9 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1881, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for disassemble

• assemble
• dissemble
• resemble
• reassemble
• semble
• tremble

Kids Definition

disassemble

verb

dis·​as·​sem·​ble ˌdis-ə-ˈsem-bəl 

: to take apart

disassemble an engine

disassembly

-ˈsem-blē 

noun