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Dismemberment - 3 dictionary results

dis⋅mem⋅ber

  [dis-mem-ber]
Use Dismemberment in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to deprive of limbs; divide limb from limb: The ogre dismembered his victims before he ate them.
2. to divide into parts; cut to pieces; mutilate.
3. to reduce, reorganize, or discontinue the services or parts of (a company, government agency, etc.): Our business was dismembered by the conglomerate that bought it.
Origin:
1250–1300; ME dismembren < AF, OF desmembrer, equiv. to des- dis- 1 + -membrer, v. deriv. of membre member

Related forms:
dis⋅mem⋅ber⋅er, noun
dis⋅mem⋅ber⋅ment, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Dismemberment
dis·mem·ber   (dĭs-měm'bər)   
tr.v.   dis·mem·bered, dis·mem·ber·ing, dis·mem·bers
  1. To cut, tear, or pull off the limbs of.
  2. To divide into pieces.

[Middle English dismembren, from Old French desmembrer, from Vulgar Latin *dismembrāre : Latin dis-, dis- + Latin membrum, limb; see member.]
dis·mem'ber·ment n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Dismemberment

Dis*mem"ber*ment\, n. [Cf. OF. desmembrement, F. d['e]membrement.] The act of dismembering, or the state of being dismembered; cutting in piece; m?tilation; division; separation.

The Castilians would doubtless have resented the dismemberment of the unwieldy body of which they formed the head. --Macaulay.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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