Noah Webster
Dismember
DISMEMBER, verb transitive [dis and member.]
1. To divide limb from limb; to separate a member from the body; to tear or cut in pieces; to dilacerate; to mutilate.
Fowls obscene dismembered his remains.
2. To separate a part from the main body; to divide; to sever; as, to dismember an empire, kingdom or republic. Poland was dismembered by the neighboring powers.