DIVIDE

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does divide mean? 

• DIVIDE (noun)
  The noun DIVIDE has 2 senses:

1. a serious disagreement between two groups of people (typically producing tension or hostility)
2. a ridge of land that separates two adjacent river systems

  Familiarity information: DIVIDE used as a noun is rare.

• DIVIDE (verb)
  The verb DIVIDE has 6 senses:

1. separate into parts or portions
2. perform a division
3. act as a barrier between; stand between
4. come apart
5. make a division or separation
6. force, take, or pull apart

  Familiarity information: DIVIDE used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIVIDE (noun)

Sense 1

divide [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

A serious disagreement between two groups of people (typically producing tension or hostility)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("divide" is a kind of...):

disagreement; dissension; dissonance (a conflict of people's opinions or actions or characters)

Sense 2

divide [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

A ridge of land that separates two adjacent river systems

Classified under:

Nouns denoting spatial position

Synonyms:

water parting; watershed; divide

Hypernyms ("divide" is a kind of...):

line (a spatial location defined by a real or imaginary unidimensional extent)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "divide"):

continental divide (the watershed of a continent (especially the watershed of North America formed by a series of mountain ridges extending from Alaska to Mexico))

Instance hyponyms:

Great Divide (that part of the continental divide formed by the Rocky Mountains in the United States)

• DIVIDE (verb)

Sense 1

divide [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Separate into parts or portions

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

split; divide; dissever; carve up; split up; separate

Context examples:

divide the cake into three equal parts / The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I

Hypernyms (to "divide" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divide"):

canton (divide into cantons, of a country)

paragraph (divide into paragraphs, as of text)

sliver; splinter (divide into slivers or splinters)

parcel (divide into parts)

lot (divide into lots, as of land, for example)

unitise; unitize (divide (bulk material) and process as units)

triangulate (divide into triangles or give a triangular form to)

sectionalise; sectionalize (divide into sections, especially into geographic sections)

format; initialise; initialize (divide (a disk) into marked sectors so that it may store data)

subdivide (divide into smaller and smaller pieces)

Balkanise; Balkanize (divide a territory into small, hostile states)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Antonym:

unite (act in concert or unite in a common purpose or belief)

Sense 2

divide [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Perform a division

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

fraction; divide

Context example:

Can you divide 49 by seven?

Hypernyms (to "divide" is one way to...):

calculate; cipher; compute; cypher; figure; reckon; work out (make a mathematical calculation or computation)

Domain category:

arithmetic (the branch of pure mathematics dealing with the theory of numerical calculations)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divide"):

halve (divide by two; divide into halves)

quarter (divide by four; divide into quarters)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

multiply (combine by multiplication)

Sense 3

divide [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Act as a barrier between; stand between

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

separate; divide

Context example:

The mountain range divides the two countries

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

divide [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Come apart

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

part; divide; separate

Context example:

The two pieces that we had glued separated

Hypernyms (to "divide" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divide"):

reduce (undergo meiosis)

section; segment (divide into segments)

partition; partition off (divide into parts, pieces, or sections)

discerp; dismember; take apart (divide into pieces)

gerrymander (divide unfairly and to one's advantage; of voting districts)

segment (divide or split up)

segregate (divide from the main body or mass and collect)

come away; come off; detach (come to be detached)

disjoin; disjoint (become separated, disconnected or disjoint)

break away; break off; chip; chip off; come off (break off (a piece from a whole))

break up; calve (release ice)

polarise; polarize (become polarized in a conflict or contrasting situation)

subdivide (form into subdivisions)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 5

divide [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Make a division or separation

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

divide; separate

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divide"):

close off; shut off (isolate or separate)

detach (separate (a small unit) from a larger, especially for a special assignment)

rail; rail off (separate with a railing)

break up; dispel; disperse; dissipate; scatter (to cause to separate and go in different directions)

break (destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments)

partition; zone (separate or apportion into sections)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 6

divide [BACK TO TOP]

Meaning:

Force, take, or pull apart

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

disunite; separate; part; divide

Context examples:

He separated the fighting children / Moses parted the Red Sea

Hypernyms (to "divide" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Cause:

divide; part; separate (come apart)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "divide"):

joint (separate (meat) at the joint)

gin (separate the seeds from (cotton) with a cotton gin)

break (separate from a clinch, in boxing)

break up; sever (set or keep apart)

bust; rupture; snap; tear (separate or cause to separate abruptly)

tear (to separate or be separated by force)

cut (separate with or as if with an instrument)

disconnect (make disconnected, disjoin or unfasten)

disarticulate; disjoint (separate at the joints)

disjoin; disjoint (make disjoint, separated, or disconnected; undo the joining of)

isolate; keep apart; sequester; sequestrate; set apart (set apart from others)

polarise; polarize (cause to concentrate about two conflicting or contrasting positions)

compartmentalise; compartmentalize; cut up (separate into isolated compartments or categories)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody