dissect

verb

Etymology: Borrowed from Latin dissectus past participle of dissecare (“to cut asunder, cut up”), from dis- (“asunder”) + secare (“to cut”); see section.

1. To study an animal's anatomy by cutting it apart; to perform a necropsy or an autopsy.

   “She was the first person in her class to properly dissect the sheep heart.”

2. To study a plant's or other organism's anatomy similarly.
3. To analyze an idea in detail by delineating between its parts.
4. To decontextualize an idea, especially through overanalysis by delineating between its parts too strongly based on style, usually involving pedantry, at the expense of substance.

   “Academics tend to take Indigenous oral histories out of their contexts and dissect them according to Western disciplinary objectives and foci (see figure 1).”

   “By focusing excessively on dissecting the text into 'forms' and exploring their supposed evolution, form criticism overlooks the larger literary and historical context within which these forms exist.”

5. To separate muscles, organs, etc. without cutting into them or disrupting their architecture.

   “Now dissect the triceps away from its attachment on the humerus.”

6. Of an infection or foreign material, following the fascia separating muscles or other organs.