teardown

1 of 2

noun

tear·​down ˈter-ˌdau̇n 

: the act or process of disassembling

tear down

2 of 2

verb

tore down; torn down; tearing down; tears down

transitive verb

1

a

: to cause to decompose or disintegrate

b

: vilify, denigrate

trying to tear down his reputation

2

: to take apart : disassemble

tear down an engine

Synonyms

Verb

• annihilate
• cream
• decimate
• demolish
• desolate
• destroy
• devastate
• do in
• extinguish
• nuke
• pull down
• pulverize
• raze
• rub out
• ruin
• shatter
• smash
• total
• vaporize
• waste
• wrack
• wreck

Examples of teardown in a Sentence

Verb

vandals tore down the wooden fence blocking the entrance to the beach

the new owners apparently bought the house just to tear it down and build a lavish mansion in its place

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

In Chicago, one of America’s great architectural cities, instances of teardowns represent what little new custom single-family projects get designed and built from the ground up today. —Richard Olsen, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024

YouTuber Austin Evans spotted the changes in a teardown of the new models and reported that the shrunken chip allows the new Xbox Series X models to run around 10 watts less than the original model at idle. —Tom Warren, The Verge, 15 Oct. 2024

Verb

Water surged over a gully running through the Valencian town, ripping apart roads and tearing down walls of homes. —Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 1 Nov. 2024

When the hotel was torn down, much of the lumber was sold to be used in building houses in the area. —Ray Hanley, arkansasonline.com, 30 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1926, in the meaning defined above

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

tear down

verb

: to knock down and break into pieces

tear down an old building