pick apart

verb

picked apart; picking apart; picks apart
chiefly US
: to say all of the things that are bad or wrong about (someone or something) : to criticize (a person or thing) in a very detailed and usually unkind way
You can expect political analysts to pick apart the governor's speech.
The film's critics picked his performance apart.

Examples of pick apart in a Sentence

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Stroud picked apart the Titans, and only the Texans' inability to convert twice inside the Tennessee 20 in the first half kept the final score from being worse. — ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026 After six episodes of treating the rap legend’s rhyme book like a museum, with Rubin serving as curator and prompting his friend and collaborator to pick apart his own lyrics, the two music icons simply sit down and talk. — John Kennedy, VIBE.com, 8 Oct. 2026 Particularly, individuals on the Right are condemning the fraternity members being picked apart in the public court of opinion. — Claire Carter, The Washington Examiner, 1 Oct. 2026 The second apron has picked apart title teams, which likely led to greater parity across the league — while also drawing the ire of the players union. — Mike Vorkunov, New York Times, 1 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for pick apart

Rhymes for pick apart

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Browse Nearby Words

pickaninny
pick apart
pick a quarrel
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Cite this Entry

“Pick apart.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pick%20apart. Accessed 14 Oct. 2026.

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