apart[adverb]Synonyms:- to pieces, asunder, in bits, in pieces, to bits
- separate, alone, aside, away, by oneself, isolated, to one side
- apart from: except for, aside from, besides, but, excluding, not counting, other than, save
Related Idioms: one at a time, to one side, all to pieces, to bits (
or flinders)
[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲
a‧part S2 W1 /əˈpɑːt $ -ɑːrt/
adverb, adjective[
Date: 1300-1400;
Language: Old French;
Origin: a part 'to the side']
1. NOT CLOSE/TOUCHING if things are apart, they are not close to each other or touching each other
two miles/six feet etc apart
Place the two posts 6 metres apart. They have offices in countries as far apart as India and Peru. The police try to keep rival supporters apart at all matches. A couple of men started fighting and we had to pull them apart. Joel stood apart from the group, frowning.2. IN DIFFERENT PIECES if something comes apart, or you take it apart, it is separated into different pieces:
The whole thing comes apart so that you can clean it. They took the engine apart to see what was wrong.3. SEPARATE if you keep things apart, you keep them separate from each other:
I try to keep my work and private life as far apart as possible.4. NOT AT SAME TIME if things are a particular time apart, they do not happen at the same time but have that much time between them
two days/three weeks/five years etc apart Our birthdays are exactly a month apart.5. PEOPLE if people are apart, they are not together in the same place, or not having a relationship with each other:
The children have never been apart before. My wife and I are living apart at the moment.apart from He’s never been apart from his mother.6. fall apart a) if something falls apart, it breaks into different pieces:
It just fell apart in my hands! b) if something is falling apart, it is in very bad condition:
He drives around in an old car that’s falling apart. c) if something falls apart, it fails completely:
He lost his job and his marriage fell apart. The country’s economy is in danger of falling apart.7. be torn apart if a marriage, family etc is torn apart, it can no longer continue because of serious difficulties:
The play portrays a good marriage torn apart by external forces.8. be worlds/poles apart if people, beliefs, or ideas are worlds or poles apart, they are completely different from each other:
I realized we were still worlds apart.9. grow/drift apart if people drift or grow apart, their relationship slowly becomes less close:
Lewis and his father drifted apart after he moved to New York.10. joking apart used to say that you want to say something seriously:
Joking apart, they did do quite a good job for us.11. somebody/something apart except for someone or something:
The car industry apart, most industries are now seeing an improvement in their economic performance.12. set somebody/something apart to make someone or something different from other people or things:
Her unusual lifestyle set her apart as a child. [TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲