dismember

1 separate the limbs from the body; "the tiger dismembered the tourist"

2 divide into pieces; "our department was dismembered when our funding dried up"; "The Empire was discerped after the war" [syn: take apart, discerp]

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛmbə(r)

Verb

1. To remove the limbs of.

   Death by drawing and quartering usually dismembered the condemned person.

2. To cut or otherwise divide something into pieces.

   The killer methodically dismembered the bodies of his victims.

   The American Civil War nearly dismembered the Union.

Derived terms

• dismemberment

Translations

See also

• Decapitation

cripple, defoliate, denude, disassemble, dismantle, draw and quarter, flay, grill, impale, keelhaul, lacerate, maim, mangle, mayhem, mutilate, part, peel, pick to pieces, picket, pull apart, rack, separate, sever, shred, skin, strip, sunder, take apart, take down, tar and feather, tear apart, tear to pieces, tear to tatters, torture