desballestar

Catalan

Etymology

From des- +‎ ballesta +‎ -ar.

Pronunciation

Verb

desballestar (first-person singular present desballesto, first-person singular preterite desballestí, past participle desballestat); root stress: (Central, Valencia, Balearic) /e/

  1. (transitive) to take apart, dismantle
    Synonyms: desmuntar, desfer
    • 2002, Albert Sánchez Piñol, chapter 2, in La pell freda, La Campana, →ISBN:
      Les van desballestar allà mateix. A l'interior d'una barra de ferro de la meva bicicleta van trobar-hi la carta.
      They took them apart right there. Inside an iron bar of my bicycle they found the letter.
  2. (transitive) to salvage, to cannibalise (remove parts from a defective machine to use elsewhere)
  3. (transitive) to put out of order, to wreck
    Synonyms: desajustar, desgavellar
  4. (reflexive) to break down, (of a person) to have a breakdown
    Sembla que alguna cosa s'ha desballestat a la moto, ja que la bateria és nova.
    It seems like something has broken down in the motorcycle since the battery is new.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Further reading

Spanish

Pronunciation

 
  • IPA(key): /desbaʝesˈtaɾ/ [d̪ez.β̞a.ʝesˈt̪aɾ] (most of Spain and Latin America)
  • IPA(key): /desbaʎesˈtaɾ/ [d̪ez.β̞a.ʎesˈt̪aɾ] (rural northern Spain, Andes Mountains, Paraguay, Philippines)
  • IPA(key): /desbaʃesˈtaɾ/ [d̪ez.β̞a.ʃesˈt̪aɾ] (Buenos Aires and environs)
  • IPA(key): /desbaʒesˈtaɾ/ [d̪ez.β̞a.ʒesˈt̪aɾ] (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay)

  • Rhymes: -aɾ
  • Syllabification: des‧ba‧lles‧tar

Verb

desballestar (first-person singular present desballesto, first-person singular preterite desballesté, past participle desballestado)

  1. to unsettle
    • 2015 November 6, “Entrevista”, in El País[1]:
      Recuerda, además, Zanón que vivía con sus padres y los cuatro abuelos: "Siempre había alguien en casa, era una estructura familiar que nos protegía y que ahora no existe: hoy los tienes en la residencia y para pagarlo has de trabajar 24 horas… Es absurdo: hay que romper con eso, se desballestan muchas cosas ¿Un discurso conservador?
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Conjugation

Further reading