dismantle
dis-MAN-tulverbMeaning to take apart piece by piece
Memory hook DIS-MAN-TLE: the robot MAN in pieces. Sami unscrews the old robot man bolt by bolt and lines every piece up on the floor; he dismantles it to see how it works.
Dad had to dismantle the bunk bed to get it through the doorway.
In context Rather than repair the broken clock, the curious student dismantled it, laying every gear and spring on the table in neat rows.
Similar take apart, disassemble, strip down, break up
Opposite assemble, build, put together
From Middle French desmanteler, “to strip of a cloak,” and so of a fort’s walls: des- (away) + mantel (cloak).