Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - separate

(separated) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If one thing is separate from another, there is a barrier, space, or division between them, so that they are clearly two things. Each villa has a separate sitting-room... They are now making plans to form their own separate party... Business bank accounts were kept separate from personal ones. ADJ: oft ADJ from n • separateness ...establishing Australia’s cultural separateness from Britain. N-UNCOUNT 2. If you refer to separate things, you mean several different things, rather than just one thing. Use separate chopping boards for raw meats, cooked meats, vegetables and salads... Men and women have separate exercise rooms... The authorities say six civilians have been killed in two separate attacks. = different ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. If you separate people or things that are together, or if they separate, they move apart. Police moved in to separate the two groups... The pans were held in both hands and swirled around to separate gold particles from the dirt... The front end of the car separated from the rest of the vehicle... They separated. Stephen returned to the square... They’re separated from the adult inmates. V-RECIP: V pl-n, V n from n, V from n, pl-n V, V-ed 4. If you separate people or things that have been connected, or if one separates from another, the connection between them is ended. They want to separate teaching from research... It’s very possible that we may see a movement to separate the two parts of the country... He announced a new ministry to deal with Quebec’s threat to separate from Canada. V-RECIP: V n from n, V pl-n, V from n 5. If a couple who are married or living together separate, they decide to live apart. Her parents separated when she was very young... Since I separated from my husband I have gone a long way. V-RECIP: pl-n V, V from n 6. An object, obstacle, distance, or period of time which separates two people, groups, or things exists between them. ...the white-railed fence that separated the yard from the paddock... They had undoubtedly made progress in the six years that separated the two periods... But a group of six women and 23 children got separated from the others. VERB: V n from n, V pl-n, get V-ed 7. If you separate one idea or fact from another, you clearly see or show the difference between them. It is difficult to separate legend from truth... It is difficult to separate the two aims. = distinguish VERB: V n from n, V pl-n • Separate out means the same as separate. How can one ever separate out the act from the attitudes that surround it? PHRASAL VERB: V P n from n 8. A quality or factor that separates one thing from another is the reason why the two things are different from each other. The single most important factor that separates ordinary photographs from good photographs is the lighting... = distinguish VERB: V n from n 9. If a particular number of points separate two teams or competitors, one of them is winning or has won by that number of points. In the end only three points separated the two teams. VERB: V pl-n 10. If you separate a group of people or things into smaller elements, or if a group separates, it is divided into smaller elements. The police wanted to separate them into smaller groups... Let’s separate into smaller groups... So all the colours that make up white light are sent in different directions and they separate. = split VERB: V n into n, V into n, V • Separate out means the same as separate. If prepared many hours ahead, the mixture may separate out. PHRASAL VERB: V P 11. Separates are clothes such as skirts, trousers, and shirts which cover just the top half or the bottom half of your body. N-PLURAL 12. see also separated 13. When two or more people who have been together for some time go their separate ways, they go to different places or end their relationship. Sue and her husband decided to go their separate ways. PHRASE: V inflects