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Synonyms

pick apart

Idioms  

  1. Also, pick holes in or pick to pieces. Find flaws in something by close examination, criticize sharply, as in The lawyer picked apart the testimony, or He found it easy to pick holes in their argument, or The new editor picked her manuscript to pieces. These expressions use pick in the sense of “pierce” or “poke,” a usage dating from the 1300s; pick holes in dates from the mid-1600s, pick to pieces from the mid-1800s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The ghost of “Beloved” is psychological, picking apart Sethe’s traumatic experience of slavery and her guilt from murdering her infant.

From The Wall Street Journal

That was plenty for Snell, who picked apart a Reds offense that ranked just 14th in scoring and 19th in batting average during the regular season.

From Los Angeles Times

Spectators queued daily to nab a spot in the courtroom, thousands of people picked apart details of the case online, and journalists descended from around the world to cover the lengthy trial.

From BBC

The destructive forehand - her most effective tool on the clay - has lost some of its reliability, while her service game has been picked apart by big-hitting opponents.

From BBC

Her destructive forehand - arguably her most effective tool - has lost its reliability, while her service game has been picked apart by big-hitting opponents.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.