DISCERP

PRONUNCIATION: (di-SUHRP)

MEANING: verb tr.: To tear off or to rip into pieces.

ETYMOLOGY: From Latin discerpere (to tear to pieces), from dis- (apart) + carpere (to pick, pluck). Earliest documented use: 1483.
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DISCERN - to remove the ashes from their container

DIS-CERA - to take out wax

DISPERP - a particular small-time crook from Brooklyn