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pick apart

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pick someone or something apart

 

1. Lit. to pick at and pull someone or something to pieces. The vultures attacked the hunger-weakened man and tried to pick him apart. They tried to pick apart the body. Harry picked his piece of cake apart, looking to get all the nuts out.

2. Fig. to analyze and criticize someone or something negatively. You didn't review her performance; you just picked her apart. The critics picked apart the performers.

See also: apart, pick

pick somebody/something apart

also pick apart somebody/something

to find mistakes, weaknesses, or faults in someone or something When new software is developed, the company sends out a test version and asks users to pick it apart. Lots of players are picked apart by their coaches, by the fans, and by the media.

See also: apart, pick

pick apart

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.

See also: apart, pick

pick apart

v.

1. To pull something or someone to pieces: The vultures picked apart the deer carcass. The children picked the bread apart, trying to remove all the raisins.

2. To find flaws in something or someone by close examination: The lawyer picked apart the witness's testimony. The candidate picked her opponent's speech apart.

See also: apart, pick