phrasal verb · neutral
take apart
UK/teɪk əˈpɑːt/US/teɪk əˈpɑrt/take·a·PART
to separate into pieces (literal); to criticize or demolish an argument; to defeat someone completely (figurative)
Examples
“He took the engine apart to find the faulty component.”
“In the debate she took his argument apart point by point.”
“The visiting team took the champions apart in the second half.”
Band 8 sentence
“The reviewer methodically took the author's claims apart, exposing several unsupported assumptions.”
Collocations
- take apart an engine
- take an argument apart
Word family
Common mistakes
break apart the engine→take the engine apart
take apart the idea→take an idea apart / take the idea apart
Say it for a higher band
5dismantle→6break down→7+take apart
Synonyms
dismantle
tear apart
Easily confused
break down
“She carefully took the machine apart to see which part was faulty.”
Related words
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In take …
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