separating Meaning, Definition & Usage

1. verb act as a barrier between; stand between
   divide; separate.
   
   • The mountain range divides the two countries
2. verb force, take, or pull apart
   part; disunite; divide; separate.
   
   • He separated the fighting children
   • Moses parted the Red Sea
3. verb mark as different
   secernate; severalise; separate; severalize; tell apart; differentiate; distinguish; tell; secern.
   
   • We distinguish several kinds of maple
4. verb separate into parts or portions
   divide; separate; split up; split; carve up; dissever.
   
   • divide the cake into three equal parts
   • The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I
5. verb divide into components or constituents
   separate.
   
   • Separate the wheat from the chaff
6. verb arrange or order by classes or categories
   sort; separate; assort; sort out; class; classify.
   
   • How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?
7. verb make a division or separation
   divide; separate.
   
8. verb discontinue an association or relation; go different ways
   break; break up; separate; split up; part; split.
   
   • The business partners broke over a tax question
   • The couple separated after 25 years of marriage
   • My friend and I split up
9. verb go one's own way; move apart
   part; split; separate.
   
   • The friends separated after the party
10. verb become separated into pieces or fragments
    break; split up; fall apart; come apart; separate.
    
    • The figurine broke
    • The freshly baked loaf fell apart
11. verb treat differently on the basis of sex or race
    single out; discriminate; separate.
    
12. verb come apart
    part; divide; separate.
    
    • The two pieces that we had glued separated
13. verb divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork
    ramify; fork; furcate; branch; separate.
    
    • The road forks

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