separatesep‧a‧rate1 /ˈsepərət/ ●●● S2 W2 adjective [no comparative] 
Use separate knives for raw and cooked meat. My wife and I have separate bank accounts.2not related to or not affected by something else: That’s a separate issue. He was attacked on two separate occasions.separate from He tries to keep his professional life completely separate from his private life.3not joined to or touching something else: The gym and the sauna are in separate buildings.separate from Keep the fish separate from the other food.4go your separate ways a)if people go their separate ways, they stop being friends or lovers b)if people who have been travelling together go their separate ways, they start travelling in different directions—separately adverb: They did arrive together, but I think they left separately.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- separate bedrooms
- A separate study found that 77% of students are spending less time on homework.
- a university with three separate campuses
- All the children have separate bedrooms.
- He asked her out on two separate occasions.
- He likes to keep his work and his family life separate.
- In a separate saucepan, heat the milk and the cream.
- Keep your bank card and your PIN number separate.
- The cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles are completely separate.
- The nursery was separate from the main school.
- Before Casey spoke, three prominent Democrats had taken issue with his charges in separate appearances on Sunday.
- The fitter brought the separate components into the correct position by the trunk.
- Then, write a separate list for each chapter and, possibly, for each section of a chapter.
- This led the Committee to propose two separate new statutes.
- Unlike Smith, he estimated a separate wage premium for the risk of nonfatal injury.
- Upholstery became a separate trade, and seating began to put on weight in consequence.
- We all seemed to split up and go our separate ways afterwards.
Longman Language Activatornot together
not together: · All the children have separate bedrooms.· a university with three separate campuses· The cities of Long Beach and Los Angeles are completely separate.separate from: · The nursery was separate from the main school.keep something separate: · He likes to keep his work and his family life separate.· Keep your bank card and your PIN number separate.
if people or things are apart , they are in different places and there is a distance between them: · I hate it when we're apart.live apart: · Jo and Sam decided to try living apart for a while.move/drift apart: · Since the universe began, the galaxies have gradually moved further apart.apart from: · Helen noticed one little boy standing apart from the rest of the group.50 miles/100 kilometres etc apart: · The two cities are less than 30 km apart.keep somebody apart: · The two sets of rival fans had to be kept apart by the police.
not together, but at separate times or in separate places: · The couple arrived separately at London Airport yesterday.· Books for more advanced students are listed separately.· Each of the men talked to her separately after the meeting.
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.
to become separated into two different parts to become separated into different parts, usually in a natural way: · Hair conditioner helps your curls to separate.separate into: · The whole process separates quite naturally into three smaller stages.· As the milk turns sour, it separates into thick curds and watery liquid.separate from: · At this point, the satellite separates from its launcher.
to become separated into two or more parts or groups: · What happens when an atom splits?split into: · The class split into two. Half of us went to the museum and half to the cathedral.· When you electrolyse water it splits into hydrogen and oxygen.
to separate into several smaller parts: · In spring the icebergs begin to break up.· The crowd broke up slowly.break up into: · Eventually, the old ruling group broke up into a number of political parties.
if something is in pieces , it has been separated into pieces: · The table Alan was supposed to have put together was still in pieces when I arrived home.· Within a few minutes he had the car engine in pieces on the garage floor.
if something comes to pieces , it is designed so that it can be broken into its separate parts without being damaged: · The bed comes to pieces, so we can fit it in the car.
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 separate things or people so that they are no longer close or touching · If you two don't stop talking during class, I'll have to separate you.· Some of the pages had got stuck together and I couldn't separate them.separate something from something · Break an egg into a bowl and separate the white from the yolk.· Farmers separate calves from their mothers when they are only a few days old.
to separate two things or parts that are together, making a space in the middle of them: · Joe parted the curtains and the sunlight came flooding in.· She parted the branches with her hands as she moved further into the forest.
to stop things from touching each other or coming together, especially in order to prevent something from happening: · The plastic casing keeps the wires apart.· After mating, male and female sheep are usually kept apart.
to separate people from each other, the rest of society etc to keep two or more people apart, especially so that they cannot cause any trouble together: · Teachers thought it best to separate Paul and Fred and put them in different classes.separate somebody from somebody: · Separating prisoners from each other is sometimes the only way of preventing riots.
to separate two or more people so that they cannot talk to or harm each other: · At the party it seemed only sensible to keep her ex-husband and her new boyfriend apart.keep sb apart from: · Sex offenders are often kept apart from other prisoners for their own safety.
to keep someone away from other people, especially because they are suffering from an infectious disease: · We used to routinely isolate people who had measles.isolate somebody from: · The six other patients were immediately isolated from the infected four.
to separate someone from the people they are usually with: · She realized that he was trying to cut her off from her friends.· It's easy to get cut off from your family when you first go overseas.
to separate one group of people from others, especially because of their race, sex, religion etc: · Schools should not segregate children with disabilities.· Faith-based schools would only segregate society further.be segregated from: · Male prisoners were strictly segregated from the females.
the practice of keeping people of different races apart and making them live, work, or study separately, especially because one race believes that members of the other race are not as good as they are: · Racial segregation in schools still exists in some southern states.· Civil rights protestors called for an end to all segregation.
the former South African political and social system in which black and white races had to go to separate schools, live in separate areas etc as a way of keeping white people in their position of power: · Mandela was in prison for over 25 years for opposing apartheid in South Africa.· an anti-apartheid organization
separated from other people because you have or may have an infectious illness that they could catch if they were with you: · One of the crew caught smallpox, and soon they were all in quarantine.put somebody in quarantine: · All animals entering the UK used to have to be put in quarantine.
when two or more people stop having a relationship, friendship etc to start to live apart from a sexual partner you used to live with or are married to: · They separated several years ago, but they're not divorced.· Kids are put under a tremendous emotional strain when their parents separate.
if two people split up , they stop having a relationship with each other, especially a sexual relationship: · They're always arguing, but I don't think they'll ever split up.split up with: · He started drinking heavily after he split up with Debbie.
to separate from someone so that your relationship ends - used especially in literature: · They parted in a fairly amicable way.· She hoped that she and Jonathan would never part.
if two people break up , or if their relationship breaks up , they stop having a relationship with each other : · Tom and I broke up last year.· Newspaper stories often have a lot to do with showbusiness marriages breaking up.break up with: · I can't imagine ever breaking up with my wife.
if people drift apart , they gradually become less friendly and see each other less, until their relationship finally ends: · Over the years my schoolfriends and I have drifted apart.· Teddy and Maria never really argued -- they just drifted apart.
if a group of friends go their separate ways , they each go to different places and start doing different things: · After we left college we all went our separate ways and I never saw those friends again.
separated from a relation, especially a close one such as a husband or mother, so that you almost never see them, for example because you have had a serious argument: somebody's estranged wife/husband/father etc: · He is hoping for a reconciliation with his estranged wife Hillary.· In 1975, he wrote a formal letter to his estranged father.be estranged from somebody: · We provide support to people who are estranged from their families.
a situation in which a husband and wife agree to live apart from each other even though they are still married: · In the case of separation or divorce, the children's needs should come first.· Since the separation they've each been seeing different people.trial separation (=to see if it is better or worse being separated): · He said he understood her doubts and perhaps a trial separation might be the answer.
to deliberately separate yourself from another person, group etc to deliberately separate yourself from a larger group or organization, especially because you no longer want to work with them: · Last year, he split from the rock band, "Hot City'.· The left wing of the party is likely to split from its parent organization.
to deliberately separate yourself from a group of people, usually permanently, because you want to be alone or independent: · She had cut herself off, and when David left her she had no one to turn to.cut yourself off from: · Quite deliberately, she cut herself off from the rest of the family.
to formally and permanently end a relationship with another person, company, country etc: · Throughout the seventies, the government was urged to sever all links with South Africa.· Tobolewski, like many immigrants into America, severed all his ties with his Polish background.
to deliberately separate yourself from a person, organization etc, because you do not want people to think you are connected with it or are responsible for something that they are doing: · The government is seeking to detach itself from the latest financial scandal.· Diplomats saw his resignation as a way of distancing himself from an unpopular government.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY He tries to keep his professional life completely separate from his private life. Keep the fish separate from the other food.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The bag is divided into separate compartments. The mind exists as a separate entity.
He tries to keep his professional life completely separate from his private life. Keep the fish separate from the other food. (=clearly different from others)· Animals fall into distinct categories.
The bag is divided into separate compartments. The mind exists as a separate entity.· Young men were killed in two separate incidents on the same day.
· I had heard this story on at least four separate occasions.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Three quite separate elements may be involved, all or any of which may be present at any one time.· In order to make clear what this means, it may be helpful to take two, quite separate, examples.· We never considered that they might be quite separate.· The two places were quite separate.· It is important to remember that a classic type of restraint of trade clause frequently mentions two quite separate time periods.· That conference was also memorable, of course, for other quite separate reasons, as I would like now to explain.· They even partitioned the archipelago into three quite separate military commands.· Katherine Lundy ran two similar, but quite separate, operations.
NOUN· In 1686 they declared war on him in order to establish a separate company state from which they could trade.· Under the old structure, the business units operated almost like separate companies, each with their own marketing and engineering organization.· The construction materials division, which employs more than 4,200 people, is to be floated as a separate company.· Spry Inc has reorganised, dividing its system integration and software development operations into two separate companies.· That group will most likely be a separate company, or they may be an autonomous subsidiary.· Mr Reuter struggles on without his support to weld a group of large, still separate companies into a coherent whole.· It is also willing to transfer another $ 450 million of expenditure to a separate company.
· This is difficult as we are not used to doing it, preferring to keep these approaches in separate compartments.· The worst aspect of Hinduism is undoubtedly the caste system, which kept the population cooped up in so many separate compartments.· The bivvy bag can be stored in a separate compartment at the base of the larger compression sack.· Its study was isolated in a separate compartment until very recent times.· It was getting impossible to keep their relationship in two separate compartments.· Each species has evolved to deal with life in separate compartments.· For Locke the separate compartments for faith and reason, or reason and revelation, did not exist.· Business matters and personal relationships clearly occupied separate compartments in Guy's life.
· The government's difficulties were compounded by separate developments relating to its pledge to Islamicize the economy.
· Although all separate entities, they do co-operate with each other as, naturally, they are all working towards the same ideal.· This could not be happening if the brain and immune system were separate entities.· National government and household administration were from the middle of the sixteenth century separate entities.· With a few exceptions, each lesson is a separate entity and can be used by itself.· These differences have led some investigators to consider cancer of the cardia as a separate entity.· The singles chart needs to be treated as a separate entity, and not as a cheap promotions gimmick for greedy businessmen.· As far as they are concerned, these discs are five separate entities.
· The network also brings together separate groups of people working on different aspects of the same software project.· A separate group of specialists may speak of high school problems.· Between 1956 and 1960 the association had to fight for the right to enter the Big Berlin Exhibition as a separate group.· Alternatively, the business may be run as divisions of separate group companies.· The ginkgos are often placed in a separate group.· The day began with health and social services managers meeting in their two separate groups.· There is a separate group for Spina Bifida children.· When Ross reached that area, he charted the islands as a separate group, the Russell Islands.
· Field independence also relates to one's sense of separate identity, or developed sense of one's own feelings and needs.· The sense of a distinct, separate identity fades and is replaced by a metamorphic self-image.· It has been stripped of its separate identity and made dependent on the market and government for its survival.· We shall see how it is that different particles of the same type can not have separate identities from one another.· Various devices were used to encourage the development of separate identities between the two groups.· During this process gods worshipped in the same animal eventually fused together, while other retained a separate identity.· Like Gaiety Girls they had been judged worthy of a separate identity.
· In a separate incident, a driver escaped drowning when his fuel tanker plunged into a canal.· They shot or bludgeoned to death numerous others in separate incidents.· The warning, from doctors at Salisbury District Hospital, Wiltshire, follows the separate incidents, one involving a 20-month-old girl.· And fire crews were stoned in three separate incidents as they tried to deal with fires.· Three people were reported to have died in separate incidents of pre-election violence.· In a separate incident, a pensioner was knifed in the head as he sat on a street bench.· In a separate incident, a prisoner who was being moved, broke free and vandalised furniture.· In a separate incident, a journalist, Turan Dursun, was shot and killed on Sept. 4.
· A separate issue related to quality of care is the range of services provided.· The extent to which their development involves various kinds of experience raises an entirely separate issue.· Of course, their writing is sensationalistic and their checkbook tactics are shaky, but those are separate issues.· Two separate issues arise from the search for better value.· Although they are discussed here as separate issues, tourism, recreation and sport are not mutually exclusive.· Nevertheless, whether corporate planning has become a reality is a separate issue.
· For instance marital problems can often lead to not talking, spending less time together, planning separate lives.· Our two separate lives threatened our plans and undermined our relationship.· Again, separate life cover is required to pay off your loan in any eventuality.· They looked at their few years left and, instead of continuing to fight, chose a separate life.· He lived his separate life and she waited for him to falter and slip back into alcohol.· For the first time Benny realised properly that they were going to live separate lives though in the same city.· And although he and John lead separate lives, being the Prime Minister's brother does have advantages.· The couple begin to lead separate lives and for the first time there is public concern over the marriage.
· The blips appeared on three separate occasions, and each time the lowest instrument showed the biggest jump.· On two separate occasions I've heard her voice beyond the door.· If the burial service follows a church service on a separate occasion, a fee will be charged.· There are reasonable approximations of bicarbonate and alkali secretion for each subject on separate occasions.· And that applied whether the words were spoken on separate occasions or all together.· Patient isolates and control strains were coded and tested blind on at least two separate occasions.
· A separate section describing famous Orc and Goblin warlords has been included after the army list.· A separate section in this chapter is devoted to the topic of measurement itself.· Please see separate section for full listings.· You can have three choirs singing their heads off in the separate sections without any of them disturbing the other.· They tend to work at entirely separate sections of the music, ignoring each other, but talking all the while.· Collate to gather separate sections or leaves of a book together in the correct order for binding.· The engine and crew compartment can be assembled as two separate sections and stuck together when dry.· He repeated the procedure twice more and laid the separate sections on the stone floor.
· The Ciskei thus appeared on the point of disappearing as a separate state, amid speculation that other homelands might follow suit.· One year later it renounced its armed struggle and claim to a separate state at an extraordinary general congress.· Yet taxation was a far more efficient method of collecting premiums and distributing payments than a separate state insurance scheme.
· This might be in the form of a branch or sub-section of the BAeA or as a separate unit entirely.· The carbonates occur in four separate units and all are known to contain potential reservoir rocks.· The full course last from January to November 1993, but it is made up of six separate units.· Over short time spans then genes are not the separate units of selection Dawkins supposes.· However, it was emphasized that apart from that situation, each quarry would be regarded as a separate unit.· At least seven genetically separate units are hidden within the supposed entity and each now has its own Linnaean name.· The four separate units which make up the Loutrouvia apartments are set back from the main road in pleasant surroundings.
· Or would they go their separate ways, each ruling an independent principality?· Before you start going separate ways, take some time to reconnect.· He says that they more or less go their separate ways, Felicity and this green fellow she's married to.· They were too readily allowed to go their separate ways.· Only then, in the shock of the open air at last, did we break ranks and go our separate ways.· After this they go their separate ways.· In the case of bacteria, the enormous numbers of cells produced by successive doublings go their separate ways.· But now the venerable types are going their own separate ways.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
- After this they go their separate ways.
- He says that they more or less go their separate ways, Felicity and this green fellow she's married to.
- In the case of bacteria, the enormous numbers of cells produced by successive doublings go their separate ways.
- Only then, in the shock of the open air at last, did we break ranks and go our separate ways.
- Or would they go their separate ways, each ruling an independent principality?
- She takes it up, the partners disengage and go their separate ways.
- They were too readily allowed to go their separate ways.
- We all seemed to split up and go our separate ways afterwards.
WORD FAMILYnounseparationseparatesseparatistseparatismseparatorinseperabilityadjectiveseparable ≠ inseparableseparateseparatedadverbinseparablyseparatelyverbseparate
1different: Use separate knives for raw and cooked meat. My wife and I have separate bank accounts.2not related to or not affected by something else: That’s a separate issue. He was attacked on two separate occasions.separate from He tries to keep his professional life completely separate from his private life.3not joined to or touching something else: The gym and the sauna are in separate buildings.separate from Keep the fish separate from the other food.4go your separate ways a)if people go their separate ways, they stop being friends or lovers b)if people who have been travelling together go their separate ways, they start travelling in different directions—separately adverb: They did arrive together, but I think they left separately.