Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Dissect
Dis-sect′
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Dissected
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Dissecting
.] 1.
(Anat.)
To divide into separate parts; to cut in pieces; to separate and expose the parts of, as an animal or a plant, for examination and to show their structure and relations; to anatomize.
2.
To analyze, for the purposes of science or criticism; to divide and examine minutely.
This paragraph . . . I have
dissected
for a sample. Atterbury.
Webster 1828 Edition
Dissect
DISSECT
,Verb.
T.
1.
To cut in pieces; to divide an animal body, with a cutting instrument, by separating the joints; as, to dissect a fowl. Hence appropriately,2.
To cut in pieces, as an animal or vegetable, for the purpose of examining the structure and use of its several parts; to anatomize. Also, to open any part of a body to observe its morbid appearances, or to ascertain the cause of death or the seat of a disease.3.
To divide into its constituent parts, for the purpose of examination; as, dissect your mind; dissect a paragraph.Definition 2024
dissect
dissect
English
Verb
dissect (third-person singular simple present dissects, present participle dissecting, simple past and past participle dissected)
- (transitive) To study an animal's anatomy by cutting it apart; to perform a necropsy or an autopsy.
- (transitive) To study a plant or other organism's anatomy similarly.
- (transitive) To analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts.
- (transitive, anatomy, surgery) To separate muscles, organs, and so on without cutting into them or disrupting their architecture.
- (transitive, pathology) Of an infection or foreign material, following the fascia separating muscles or other organs.
Derived terms
Translations
to study a dead animal's anatomy by cutting it apart
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to analyze an idea in detail by separating it into its parts
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