Meaning & use
vivisect
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Meanings
verbtransitivebiology
To cut into a living animal in order to study how its body works.
Grammar: Takes an object: they vivisected the frogs; often used in the passive.
Patterns
- vivisect an animal
- be vivisected
Nineteenth-century physiologists vivisected dogs to study digestion.
Campaigners argued that no one should vivisect an animal when other methods exist.
The scientist refused to vivisect the rabbits and used computer models instead.
verbtransitivefigurative
To examine something very closely and harshly, breaking it into small parts in order to criticize it.
Grammar: Takes an object, often an idea, speech or person: critics vivisected the film.
Patterns
- vivisect something
- vivisect someone's argument
Reviewers vivisected the novel, pointing out every weak line.
The panel vivisected her proposal in under an hour.
Talk shows vivisect each politician's words for hidden meaning.
Word forms
| third person singular | vivisects |
|---|---|
| past tense | vivisected |
| past participle | vivisected |
| -ing form | vivisecting |
Common combinations
- vivisect an animal
- It is illegal in many places to vivisect an animal without strict oversight.
- vivisect a text
- Students vivisect a text to see how it was built.
- vivisect someone's argument
- The debater vivisected his opponent's argument piece by piece.
- be vivisected
- The performance was vivisected in the press.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dissect
- Dissect usually means cutting up a dead body or, figuratively, analyzing carefully, and is much less harsh than vivisect.
- analyze
- Analyze is neutral and general, while vivisect suggests a cruel or merciless level of scrutiny.
- pick apart
- Pick apart is informal and stresses finding faults, which matches the figurative sense of vivisect.
- scrutinize
- Scrutinize means to examine closely but without the violent image of cutting that vivisect carries.
Word family
- vivisection noun
- the practice of operating on living animals for research
- vivisectionist noun
- a person who performs or supports vivisection
- antivivisection noun
- opposition to experiments on living animals
- vivisector noun
- a person who vivisects
Commonly confused: vivisect or dissect?
vivisect vs dissect
To dissect is to cut apart a dead body, whereas to vivisect is to cut a living one.
Practice
Which verb means to cut into a living animal for research?
Choose one answer.
Vivisect specifically involves a living creature. Dissect normally involves a dead one, so it is the tempting but weaker answer.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “vivisect”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.