divide
[verb]
Synonyms:
- separate, bisect, cut (up), part, partition, segregate, split
- share, allocate, allot, deal out, dispense, distribute
- cause to disagree, break up, come between, estrange, split

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Antonyms: unite
Contrasted words: combine, concur, conjoin, cooperate
Related Words: carve, chop, cut, allocate, allot, assign, part, separate

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English Thesaurus: calculate, work out, figure out, count, total, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. di‧vide¹ S2 W2 /dəˈvaɪd, dɪˈvaɪd/ verb
[Word Family: noun: divide, division, subdivision; adjective: divided ≠ undivided, divisible ≠ indivisible, divisive; verb: divide, subdivide]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Latin; Origin: dividere, from videre 'to separate']

1. SEPARATE [intransitive and transitive] if something divides, or if you divide it, it separates into two or more parts
divide something into something
Scientists traditionally divide the oceans into zones.
The book is divided into six sections.
divide into
Here, the river divides into three channels.

2. KEEP SEPARATE (also divide off) [transitive] to keep two areas separate from each other:
The Wall used to divide East and West Berlin.
divide something from something
Only a thin curtain divided her cabin from his.

3. SHARE (also divide up) [transitive] to separate something into parts and share them between people
divide something between/among somebody/something
The money will be divided equally among the charities.

4. SPEND TIME/ENERGY [transitive] if you divide your time, energy etc between different activities or places, you spend part of your time doing each activity or in each place
divide something between something/somebody
She divides her time between New York and Paris.

5. MATHEMATICS
a) [transitive] to calculate how many times one number contains a smaller number ⇒ multiply
divide something by something
If you divide 21 by 3, you get 7.
‘What’s six divided by three?’ ‘Two’.
b) [intransitive] to be contained exactly in a number one or more times
divide into
8 divides into 64.

6. DISAGREE [transitive] to make people disagree so that they form groups with different opinions:
The issue of cloning has sharply divided voters.

7. divide and rule/conquer to defeat or control people by making them argue with each other instead of opposing you

8. divided loyalties a feeling you have when two people you like have argued and you are not sure which person you should support:
Divorce is an agony of divided loyalties for children.
—divided adjective:
a deeply divided society
The committee was divided over the proposal.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. divide² noun [countable usually singular]
[Word Family: noun: divide, division, subdivision; adjective: divided ≠ undivided, divisible ≠ indivisible, divisive; verb: divide, subdivide]

1. a strong difference between the beliefs or way of life of groups of people, that may make them hate each other:
The North/South divide is characteristic of Britain.
cultural/political/racial etc divide
people on both sides of the political divide

2. American English a line of high ground between two river systems Synonym : watershed

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

divide
noun
ADJ. great, sharp | growing | north-south, etc. | class, cultural, ideological, religious, sectarian | party
VERB + DIVIDE close
DIVIDE + VERB widen | narrow | open (up)
PREP. ~ between the sharp divide between rich and poor regions
~ in The leader's speech aimed to close the embarrassing divide in party ranks.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

divide
verb
I. separate into parts
ADV. broadly, roughly This report is divided broadly into two parts.
exactly | clearly | conveniently, neatly Railway enthusiasts divide neatly into two groups.
evenly | up The country is divided up into nine regions.
PREP. into The children divided into three teams.
PHRASES divide in two the point where the river divides in two

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

divide
II. share
ADV. equally | up
PREP. among/amongst The money was divided equally among his sons.
between They divided their time between London and their country cottage.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

divide
III. cause disagreement
ADV. bitterly, deeply, hopelessly, seriously, sharply This issue has bitterly divided the community.
evenly
PHRASES be divided about/on/over sth Cabinet ministers were deeply divided on the issue.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

divide
verb
BAD: For lunch and dinner we were divided in groups of ten.
GOOD: For lunch and dinner we were divided into groups of ten.
BAD: The university is divided in five different faculties.
GOOD: The university is divided into five different faculties.

Usage Note:
divide sth into two or more parts (NOT in ): 'Some of these big old houses have been divided into separate apartments.'

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

calculate formal to find out an amount, price, or value by adding numbers together:
The students calculated the cost of printing 5000 copies of their book.
work out to calculate something. Work out is less formal than calculate, and is more common in everyday English:
You need to work out how much you will need to borrow.
figure out (also figure American English) informal to calculate an amount:
We still haven't figured out how much it's all going to cost.
the method for figuring welfare payments
count to find out the total number of things or people in a group by looking at each one and adding them all together:
The teacher counted the children as they got on the bus.
total (also total up) to add a number of things together to get a final number:
Once the scores have been totaled, we will announce the winner.
Okay, now let's total up who had the most points.
quantify formal to say how much something costs, how much of it there is, how serious or effective it is etc:
I think it's difficult to quantify the cost at the moment, for a variety of reasons.
How do you quantify the benefits of the treatment?
a reliable method for quantifying the amount of calcium in the blood
assess formal to calculate what the value or cost of something is, or decide how good, bad etc something is:
The value of the paintings was assessed at $20 million.
They are still assessing the damage.
We need to have a better way of assessing students' progress.
estimate to guess an amount, price, or number as exactly as you can, based on the knowledge you have:
The police department estimates that the number of violent crimes will decrease by 2%.
put a figure on something to say what you think the exact total amount or value of something is, especially when it is a lot:
It's hard to put a figure on it, but the final cost is likely to be over £225 million.
The company has refused to put a figure on its losses.
project to calculate what an amount will be in the future, using the information you have now:
The company projects sales of $4 million this year.
add to put two or more numbers together to find the total:
If you add 7 and 5, you get 12.
subtract/take away to reduce one number by another number. take something away sounds more informal than subtract:
If you subtract 12 from 15, you get 3.
multiply to add a number to itself a particular number of times:
4 multiplied by 10 is 40.
divide to calculate how many times one number contains another number:
10 divided by 2 equals 5.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

separate verb [transitive] to divide something into two or more parts or groups, or to divide one type of thing from another. You use separate especially when saying that the parts are different from each other:
Motorola is planning to separate the company into two public companies.
The items are separated into recyclable and non-recyclable waste.
divide verb [transitive] to make something become two or more parts or groups:
The teacher divided us into groups.
The money was divided between them.
The house is divided into three apartments.
split verb [transitive] to separate something into two or more groups, parts etc – used especially when each part is equal in size:
The class was split into groups of six.
break something up phrasal verb [transitive] to separate something into several smaller parts, especially to make it easier to deal with:
The phone company was broken up to encourage competition.
Police used tear gas to break up the crowd.
segregate verb [transitive] to separate one group of people from others because of race, sex, religion etc:
Schools were racially segregated.
Some prisons segregate prisoners who are infected with HIV.
break up phrasal verb [intransitive] to separate into several smaller parts:
In spring, the icebergs begin to break up.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲