Meaning of dismantle in English
Table of contents
Verb
dismantleEtymology
late 16th century (in the sense ‘destroy the defensive capability of a fortification’): from Old French desmanteler, from des- (expressing reversal) + manteler‘fortify’ (from Latin mantellum‘cloak’)Definitions
1. tear down so as to make flat with the groundExamples
- « The building was levelled »
Antonyms
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- 2. take apart into its constituent pieces
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- 3. take off or remove
Examples
- « strip a wall of its wallpaper »
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Famous quotes
- « They went back there, looked at all the computers, asked me to come in and tell them what all the computers were for specifically so they knew how to dismantle the network I had been running. » Sherman Austin
- « No Government has the moral authority to dismantle the universally understood meaning of marriage. » Keith O'Brien
- « Those who say we should dismantle the role of Poet Laureate altogether, the trick they miss is that being called this thing, with the weight of tradition behind it, and with the association of the Royal family, does allow you to have conversations and to open doors, and wallets, for the good of poetry in a way that nothing else would allow. » Andrew Motion
- « Federal elections happen every two years in this country. Presidential elections every four years. And four years just isn't long enough to dismantle all the environmental laws we've got in this country. » Jared Diamond