DISSECT

analyze, analyse, break down, dissect, take apart

(verb) make a mathematical, chemical, or grammatical analysis of; break down into components or essential features; “analyze a specimen”; “analyze a sentence”; “analyze a chemical compound”

dissect

(verb) cut open or cut apart; “dissect the bodies for analysis”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

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.

Anagrams

• cestids

Source: Wiktionary

Dis*sect", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dissected; p. pr. & vb. n. Dissecting.] Etym: [L. dissectus, p. p. of dissecare; dis- + secare to cut. See Section.]

1. (Anat.)

Definition: 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.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition