dis ‧ sect /dɪˈsekt, daɪ-/ BrE AmE verb [transitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Latin ; Origin: dissectus , from secare 'to cut' ]
1 . to cut up the body of a dead animal or person in order to study it
2 . to examine something carefully in order to understand it:
books in which the lives of famous people are dissected
3 . to divide an area of land into several smaller pieces:
fields dissected by small streams
—dissection /-ˈsekʃ ə n/ noun [uncountable and countable]