morselizev.
/ˈmɔːsəlʌɪz/, /ˈmɔːsl̩ʌɪz/, U.S. /ˈmɔrsəˌlaɪz/ rare.
transitive. To break up or divide into small portions.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > mutual relation of parts to whole > separation > separation or breaking up into constituent parts > separate into constituents [verb (transitive)] > make into (small) pieces
offe?1440
fine1548
flake1632
fritter1780
fragmentize1815
fragment1818
macadamize1825
fraction1841
morselize1894
1894 G. S. Hall in Forum Apr. 158 We have morselized the old curriculum.
1962 R. Lane Polit. Ideol. ii. xxii. 350 To understand an event in this way [sc. as part of a wider political context] is to contextualize it; not to do this is to morselize it, to see it isolated from the surrounding features that give it additional ‘meanings’.
1994 Jrnl. Politics 56 690 High levels of exposure to news media may counter the tendency to morselize personal experiences by weaving discrete events into a continuing story.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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