dividedi‧vide1 /dəˈvaɪd/ ●●● S2 W2 verb 
Scientists traditionally divide the oceans into zones. The book is divided into six sections.divide into Here, the river divides into three channels.► see thesaurus at separate2keep 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.3share (also divide up) [transitive] to separate something into parts and share them between peopledivide something between/among somebody/something The money will be divided equally among the charities.4spend 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 placedivide something between something/somebody She divides her time between New York and Paris.5mathematics a)[transitive] to calculate how many times one number contains a smaller numberdivide 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 timesdivide into 8 divides into 64.6disagree [transitive] to make people disagree so that they form groups with different opinions: The issue of cloning has sharply divided voters.7divide and rule/conquer to defeat or control people by making them argue with each other instead of opposing you8divided 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.
WORD ORIGINdivide1
Origin:
1300-1400 Latin dividere, from videre ‘to separate’VERB TABLE
divide
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | divide |
| he, she, it | divides | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | divided |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have divided |
| he, she, it | has divided | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had divided |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will divide |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have divided |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am dividing |
| he, she, it | is dividing | |
| you, we, they | are dividing | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was dividing |
| you, we, they | were dividing | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been dividing |
| he, she, it | has been dividing | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been dividing |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be dividing |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been dividing |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- 36 divided by 2 is 18.
- A busy highway divides one half of the town from the other.
- Cancer cells divide rapidly.
- He said that dividing up the company would make the units more profitable.
- If you divide twenty by four, you get five.
- It is easier to divide by 10 than by 12.
- Only a thin partition divides the room.
- Some of the big old houses have been divided into apartments.
- The Berlin Wall used to divide East and West Berlin.
- The chapel is divided from the rest of the church by a screen.
- The choice of a new rabbi has divided the entire congregation.
- The election campaign was bitter, dividing the city.
- The issue dividing the Church was the question of women priests.
- We divided the pizza into three and had a slice each.
- Between 2000 and 2015, well-educated, well-off Californians had more to bring them together than to divide them.
- Clerical wives were divided into those who wore hats on principle and those who, on principle, did not.
- Fairly soon, the group will be divided up into pairs for free sparring.
- Mattress matters Conventional mattresses are divided into interior-sprung and foam models.
- So it divided some of the spoils that resulted from the decision.
- The school case presents a church-state dispute, the kind that has closely divided the justices for more than two decades.
- The unfertilised egg cell began to divide to produce embryos that sometimes developed well.
THESAURUSto make something 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
different ways of calculating to put two or more numbers together to find the total: · If you add 7 and 5, you get 12.
to reduce one number by another number. take something away sounds more informal than subtract: · If you subtract 12 from 15, you get 3.
to add a number to itself a particular number of times: · 4 multiplied by 10 is 40.
to calculate how many times one number contains another number: · 10 divided by 2 equals 5.
Longman Language Activatorto divide one number by another to divide one number by another, usually smaller, number: divide by: · It is easier to divide by 10 than by 12.divide something by something: · If you divide twenty by four, you get five.divided by: · 36 divided by 2 is 18.
if one number goes into a larger number a particular number of times, the larger number can be divided that many times by the smaller number: · 13 goes into 78 six times.· How many times will nine go into eighty-one?
to cause disagreement · The issue of organ cloning has given rise to some disagreement among doctors.· It was Garcia's plan to redistribute land that caused the most disagreement.· His speech is bound to lead to some disagreement, but I think most people will accept it.
to cause strong disagreement among a group of people so that they separate and form different groups with different opinions: · The election campaign was bitter, dividing the city.· The issue dividing the Church was the question of women priests.
to cause strong disagreement among a group of people so that it is divided into two smaller groups - use this especially about political groups or political ideas: · When the book appeared just before the end of the century, it almost split the feminist movement.split the country/party etc down the middle (=split it into two equal and opposing groups): · Feelings about the war split the country right down the middle.
to separate something into two or more parts · This is a technique used to separate the components of a mixture.separate something into something · He sat at a desk, separating a pile of mail into "urgent' and "non-urgent'.
to separate something into a number of separate parts or things: divide something into something: · We divided the pizza into three and had a slice each.· Some of the big old houses have been divided into apartments.divide up something/divide something up: · He said that dividing up the company would make the units more profitable.
to separate something that used to be a single thing or a single group into two or more different parts: · Rutherford first split the atom on 3rd January 1919.split something in half/in two (=so that it makes two equal parts): · He split the company in half, and then sold both new companies to different buyers.split something into something (=into two, three etc parts): · For this exercise, I'm going to split the class into three groups.
to separate something into several smaller parts: break up something: · The police were attacked as they tried to break up the crowd.break something up: · If you have to give a long explanation, try to break it up.break something up into something: · You can break a subject up into sections and guide your learners through it one section at a time.
to separate something such as a report or a job into parts, especially in order to make it easier to understand or easier to do: break down something: · Try to break down the calculation and get the students to do it in stages.break something down: · If you find a piece of music hard to play, break it down into small sections and practise each one slowly.
to separate a machine, piece of equipment etc into parts: take something apart: · He'd shown her how to take a gun apart and clean it.take apart something: · He spends his time taking apart old clocks and watches.
to separate a large or complicated machine into parts, for example so that it can no longer be used or in order to make it easier to move, repair etc: · Jimmy was in the garage, dismantling his bike.· The first thing the soldiers did was to dismantle the enemy's surveillance equipment.
to separate something into pieces, especially in order to check for a fault or to clean it: · He took the toy to pieces to find out how it worked.· The parcel contained a gun that had been taken to pieces.
when something keeps two things, places, or people separate · A tall fence separates the two houses.· Items in the list should be separated by commas.separate something from something · The diaphragm is the strong muscular wall that separates the chest from the stomach.
to keep two areas or two parts of an area separate from each other: · Only a thin partition divides the room.divide something from something: · A busy highway divides one half of the town from the other.· The chapel is divided from the rest of the church by a screen.
to divide something so that two or more people get a part of it to divide something so that several people have a part of it: · We agreed that we would share the prize money if we won.share something among/between somebody: · She shared the cake between the children.share out something: · Profits from the sale of tickets were shared out among the members of the band.share something out: · We'll share what's left out between the three of us.
if a small number of people split something, especially money, they divide it into equal parts and take a part each: · They planned to rob a bank, split the money, and leave the country.split something among/between somebody: · He said that the land should be split between his four sons.split something two/three/four etc ways (=to divide something between two, three etc people): · I think we should split whatever we get four ways.
to separate something into two or more parts: divide something between somebody: · Hitler and Stalin agreed to divide Poland between them.divide up something/divide something up between somebody: · We divided up the rest of the pie between us.divide up something/divide something up: · Have you decided how you're going to divide up the money?
to share something such as wealth or power among different people, groups, or organizations: · We must try to distribute the country's wealth so that we help those who need it most.· The party's aim is to distribute power more evenly among the people.
to share something, especially money, in a different way from before, so that more people have a fair share of it: · The socialists are committed to redistributing wealth.· The tax will be collected nationally and the money raised will be redistributed to local authorities.
if two or more people, organizations, or countries carve something up , especially land or a company belonging to someone else, they divide it into separate parts and share it between them: carve up something: · The British and French carved up the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I.carve something up: · The two companies wanted to acquire the business and carve it up.
WORD SETSagitate, verbagitation, nounagitator, nounbipartisan, adjectivebipartite, adjectivebloc, nounBolshevik, nouncapitalism, nouncentrist, adjectivecoalition, nouncommie, nouncommunism, nouncommunist, nouncommunist, adjectiveCon, confederacy, nounconfederate, nounconfederation, nouncongress, nounconservatism, nounDem., disloyal, adjectivedissident, noundivide, verbdivisive, adjectivefascism, nounfascist, nounfederal, adjectivefederate, verbfederation, nounfront, nounginger group, nounhegemony, nounheterodox, adjectiveIndependent, nouninfighting, nouninterest group, nounIRA, nounIron Curtain, the, Lab, Labour, nounleftie, nounleftist, adjectiveleft-of-centre, adjectiveleft-wing, adjectivelefty, nounLib Dem, nounLiberal, nounLiberal Democrats, nounLiberal Party, loyalist, nounLuddite, nounmachine, nounmajority leader, nounminority leader, nounmoderate, adjectivemoderate, nounmonarchist, nounmovement, nounnationalism, nounnationalist, adjectivenationalist, nounNazi, nounneutral, adjectivenon-partisan, adjectivepalace revolution, nounparamilitary, adjectivepartisan, adjectivepartisan, nounparty, nounparty political, adjectiveparty politics, nounpinko, nounpro-, prefixpro-choice, adjectiveR, rabble-rousing, nounradical, nounrally, nounreactionary, adjectiverealign, verbrebel, nounrebellion, nounrebellious, adjectivered, adjectivered, nounrepublican, nounrevolt, nounrevolt, verbrevolutionary, adjectiverevolutionary, nounrightist, adjectiveright-of-centre, adjectiveright-wing, adjectiveroyalist, nounseparatist, nounspecial interest group, nounsplinter group, nounsplit, verbsubcommittee, nounsubversion, nounsuffragette, nounsympathizer, nounsympathy, nountendency, nounTory, nounTrotskyite, nountrue-blue, adjectiveUnionist, nounuprising, nounWhig, nounwing, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The money will be divided equally among the charities. The issue of cloning has sharply divided voters. a deeply divided societyCOLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The companies split the profits fifty-fifty. The dividing line between luxuries and necessities is constantly changing. The community remains divided along religious lines. She cut the cake into four equal pieces. Chop the potato into bite-sized pieces.
The money will be divided equally among the charities. The issue of cloning has sharply divided voters. a deeply divided society· The exhibition of 360 paintings is divided into three categories.
· White blood cells divide rapidly.
· The book is divided into ten chapters.
The companies split the profits fifty-fifty.· Divide the dough in half.
The dividing line between luxuries and necessities is constantly changing. The community remains divided along religious lines. (=when you feel that you should be loyal to two people, groups etc)· She felt divided loyalties, having friends on both sides of the dispute.
(=make people in a nation disagree)· The war has divided the nation.
· You can’t divide a prime number by any other number, except 1.
(=people have different opinions about it)· Opinion was divided as to whether the program will work.
She cut the cake into four equal pieces. Chop the potato into bite-sized pieces. (=agree or disagree completely) He urged the whole community to stand united and to reject terrorism.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB He urged the whole community to stand united and to reject terrorism.· It has deeply divided mid-green leaves that flare to wild, improbable scarlet.· Still, the report and public hearing made plain that the subcommittee had been deeply divided over key points.· Cancer experts are deeply divided amongst themselves about the percentage of cancers that can be attributed to environmental factors.· The city had strong Southern leanings and politically was deeply divided.· The justices are deeply divided on such issues as abortion, affirmative action and the separation of church and state.
· Fianna Fáil appeared to be equally divided on the issue.· Top with croissant cubes, dividing equally.· The residue of the estate was divided equally among all Mr Farrington's first cousins living at his death.· It essentially mediated between the sharply contrasting views of the other eight justices, who divided equally on the issue of quotas.· If twins are borne, both with a disability, then the sum insured will be divided equally between them.· Pour custard over chocolate and croissants, dividing equally.· Fees and expenses would be divided equally between them.· Yet scarce athletic moneys must be equally divided between male and female teams.
· Staff seemed evenly divided - we received some smiles but also caught some rather unsavoury glances.· And 86 to 90 percent comes from vehicle exhaust, evenly divided between diesel and gasoline engines.· The large crowd at the meeting was nearly evenly divided between those supporting the ban and those against.· Yocum may have been helped by the fact that the chamber audience was more evenly divided in allegiance.
· Groups were continually dividing over minor points of doctrine.· Who should we not embrace them as a general strategy for legislation whenever the community is divided over some issue of principle?· Above all, they were divided over whether the emphasis should be placed upon political or economic issues.· The purity movement was itself divided over the new proposals.· Parents are divided over the decision to separate the children.· The Government is also understood to be divided over whether the increase in base rates will provoke a recession.· In the early years of the nineteenth century methodists had divided over the matter of their relationship with the Established Church.· Read in studio People in a village that hasn't got its own graveyard are divided over plans to create one.
· Opinion about Ken Livingstone divided sharply.· He is both sharply divided from his party opponents and emotionally involved in electoral contests.· Its sharply divided report now is scheduled to be released next month.· Beyond the financial problems, there is new concern that historically tolerant California is developing a culture sharply divided along racial lines.· Northern opinion was sharply divided, with party lines much in evidence.
NOUN· This divides the city into quarters and obstructs cross-core traffic.· One such was divided Berlin, the city where so much of the Cold War drama had taken place.· Chicago was the same divided city the day he left as it had been before he arrived.· How the money will be divided among cities and states has not been determined, according to an administration official.· In the early days after the war, Berlin was not the closed, divided city it became later.· The campaign was bitter, dividing the city of 68, 000.
· Amongst themselves the Zuwaya did not divide into classes, nor did any inter-tribal division mark a class division.· Make as many photocopies as you need and divide the class into four rocket teams.· I divided my classes into rows and asked each row to pick a group leader.· On the basis of these laboratory studies, meteorites have been divided into three main classes.· It successfully produces delinquents, creating a criminal section of the population and thereby dividing the subordinate classes into mutually antagonistic fractions.· Any apparent fragmentation is a ruling class stratagem designed to divide exploited classes which develop revolutionary or reformist consciousness.
· He had a strong commitment to building bridges between the divided community here.· He knew, as we all know, that educating children in sectarian schools divides the community.· Roads can not only ruin the countryside, but also divide communities.
· They are divided by country, and the schools are hung chronologically.· Economists can not so easily divide the country into two districts to perform similar tests.· They would turn the clock back to policies that impoverished and divided our country.· We probably all were cursing our miserable fate of living in a divided country.· The book is divided into country reports.· Both Democrats and Whigs wanted to gloss over sectional differences and cement party loyalties, not divide the country.· We need to examine the issues that bind and divide this country.· Freezing minority voters into permanent isolated camps accelerates the political polarization that now divides the country.
· But the thorny issues that divided the main trading powers at Seattle appear to be largely unresolved.· But the painful stalemate wrought on this issue by divided government in Washington compelled a new approach.· Bismarck used two issues to divide the liberals and unite his new majority: protectionism and the suppression of the Social Democrats.· In their terms they debated the very issues that divided Calvinists from Arminians.· We need to examine the issues that bind and divide this country.· Self-interest now propels both Clinton and Republican leaders in Congress to reach accommodation on issues that long have divided them.· Opinion on the nuclear issue is divided and other arguments are involved too, for example economic considerations.· Transaction security issues can be divided into two types: data and message security.
· Consequently, developments in the international financial structure have had a decisive influence on how wealth-creating activities are divided among nations.· It would seem cruel to watch clean rivers flowing sweetly through a heartless and divided nation.· This is a divided nation, where the fault-lines are fresh, sharp and deep.
· At the other extreme were open villages where the land was divided among a large number of freeholders and smallholders.· She can not add or subtract or multiply or divide even the simplest numbers in her head.· The daily rate is the appropriate weekly rate divided by the number of qualifying days in the week. 5.· It is computed as the sum of the values divided by the number of observations.· Each time the cells divide, the number of cells doubles.· So, divide the number of degrees of turn by three to get the time.· Next, divide the weight number by the height number.· The debris scores were totalled and divided by the number of surfaces scored to obtain the debris index.
· Writing Many of the things people say and write can be divided into facts and opinions.· Here is where the most important split of all divides expert opinion.· She has repudiated policies associated with previous Conservative leaders and has divided public opinion.· We were all divided in opinion as to what was coming.· There is hardly a figure in public life who so divides public opinion as Woodhead.
· That is wholly laudable, and I suspect that it does not divide the parties.· It is closely divided between the parties, and there are divisions among Republicans.· The Council, said the author, should not be reported as if it was divided along party lines.· He is both sharply divided from his party opponents and emotionally involved in electoral contests.· But at other times it may be very difficult to single out policy issues that divide the parties.· The upshot for the Republicans is that they remain a divided party.· Seats are divided between the parties according to the proportion of the vote they win in the constituency.· Communists catapulted from 45 to 157 seats in the 450-seat Duma to dominate a fractious chamber divided by eight political parties.
· The asset section of the balance sheet is divided into two major sections: current assets and fixed assets.· The presentation was divided into three sections, the first being instrumental.· Queue up trellises rather than bushes to divide a garden into sections or to provide privacy.· Now she cut the skin, peeled it back carefully, divided the orange into sections.· Like all Orthodox churches it was divided into three sections.· The results are divided into two main sections.
· He concluded that legal processes could be divided into two contrasting types.· Most calling plans can be divided into three types.· The graves are divided into several types.· These are divided into two types.· The crust can be divided into two types, oceanic and continental.
· I didn't mean to divide the world into black and white, you know.· But one of two new rulings deemed experimental for one season, is dividing the rugby world.· In terms of ancient civilisations food experts tend to divide the world into three parts.· I simply stared into her eyes through the layer of toughened glass which divided her world from mine.· Sadly the evidence of such attempts to divide the world in this matter are all to clear to see.· Botanists will divide the world of plants into hundreds of thousands of different species.
VERB· The two sides remained divided on the issue of nuclear weapons.· The upshot for the Republicans is that they remain a divided party.· Problems and Method Critical opinion remains divided over Paul Nizan.· None the less, judicial opinion about the use of cameras still remained divided after the Scopes trial.· And both contributors and the general public remain suspicious and divided about public financing of presidential and congressional elections.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
- During World War II, many families in the region had divided loyalties.
- He has reached the point where he will not tolerate any further evidence of divided loyalties.
- The ensuing mêlée was notable for many things, not least the extraordinary display of divided loyalties.
- There is no indication or evidence that under such circumstances contact can be confusing or lead to divided loyalties.
- Britain did not divide and rule.
- He preferred to divide and rule.
- Here too the Party could fend off opposition by a policy of divide and rule.
- Power to appoint is power to divide and rule.
- That if you play the game of divide and rule long enough then you end up with Sister Souljah?
- The well-tried Roman policy of divide and rule had been the basis of Augustan diplomacy and continued during the conquest.
- They haven't shown the political will to sort out the problem - there has been an element of divide and rule.
- A handful of people fell between the cracks of the Great Divide.
- She is still on the human side of the Great Divide.
- The Support Force crossed the great divide and for that the profession ought to be grateful.
- These guys are only Caspers; the real monsters are still breathing on this side of the great divide.
- Thus was born the Great Divide.
- The vote was split right down the middle.
- We split you down the middle.
WORD FAMILYnoundividedivisionsubdivisionadjectivedivided ≠ undivideddivisible ≠ indivisibledivisiveverbdividesubdivide
1separate [intransitive, transitive] if something divides, or if you divide it, it separates into two or more partsdivide 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.► see thesaurus at separate2keep 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.3share (also divide up) [transitive] to separate something into parts and share them between peopledivide something between/among somebody/something The money will be divided equally among the charities.4spend 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 placedivide something between something/somebody She divides her time between New York and Paris.5mathematics a)[transitive] to calculate how many times one number contains a smaller numberdivide 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 timesdivide into 8 divides into 64.6disagree [transitive] to make people disagree so that they form groups with different opinions: The issue of cloning has sharply divided voters.7divide and rule/conquer to defeat or control people by making them argue with each other instead of opposing you8divided 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.