dismember

views updated May 18 2018

dis·mem·ber / disˈmembər/ • v. [tr.] cut off the limbs of (a person or animal): I can picture you in a white jacket dismembering rats | [as adj.] (dismembered) he buried their dismembered bodies in the back yard. ∎  partition or divide up (a territory or organization): Russia intended to dismember the Ottoman Empire.DERIVATIVES: dis·mem·ber·ment n.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

dismember

views updated May 18 2018

dismember XIII. — OF. desmembrer — Rom. *desmembrāre, f. des- DIS- 2 + L. membrum MEMBER.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

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dismember

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