Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Dismantle \Dis*man"tle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Dismantled}; p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Dismantling}.] [F. d['e]manteler, OF.
   desmanteler; pref: des- (L. dis-) + manteler to cover with a
   cloak, defend, fr. mantel, F. manteau, cloak. See {Mantle}.]
   1. To strip or deprive of dress; to divest.

   2. To strip of furniture and equipments, guns, etc.; to
      unrig; to strip of walls or outworks; to break down; as,
      to dismantle a fort, a town, or a ship.

            A dismantled house, without windows or shutters to
            keep out the rain.                    --Macaulay.

   3. To disable; to render useless. --Comber.

   Syn: To demo?sh; raze. See {Demol?sh}.

Source : WordNet®

dismantling
     n : the act of taking something apart (as a piece of machinery);
         "Russia and the United States discussed the dismantling
         of their nuclear weapons" [syn: {dismantlement}, {disassembly}]
         [ant: {assembly}, {fabrication}]