separate

adjective

OPAL W

/ˈseprət/

Word Family

separate adjective
separately adverb
separable adjective (≠ inseparable)
separate verb
separated adjective
separation noun

Idioms

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forming a unit by itself; not joined to something else
- They have begun to sleep in separate rooms.
- separate from somebody/something Raw meat must be kept separate from cooked meat.
- The school is housed in two separate buildings.
- Write a list of names on a separate piece of paper.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
verbs
- be
- become
- remain
- …
adverb
- somewhat
- very
- essentially
- …
preposition
- from
phrases
- go your separate ways
See full entry
[usually before noun] different; not connected
- a separate incident/issue
- The companies now exist as two separate entities.
- separate from something I try to keep my private life separate from my work.
- This is a completely separate matter.
- It happened on three separate occasions.
- Their ultimate political goal is the creation of a separate state.
- For the past three years they have been leading totally separate lives.
- The two groups are essentially separate and independent.
- to merge the two previously separate businesses
- species from widely separate parts of the world
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
verbs
- be
- become
- remain
- …
adverb
- somewhat
- very
- essentially
- …
preposition
- from
phrases
- go your separate ways
See full entry

Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin separat- ‘disjoined, divided’, from the verb separare, from se- ‘apart’ + parare ‘prepare’.

Idioms

go your separate ways

to end a relationship with somebody
- When the business was sold they went their separate ways.
- They decided to go their separate ways after being together for five years.
- When we finished school, we all went our separate ways.
to go in a different direction from somebody you have been travelling with

under separate cover

(business) in a separate envelope
- The information you requested is being forwarded to you under separate cover.

separate

verb

OPAL W

/ˈsepəreɪt/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they separate	/ˈsepəreɪt/ /ˈsepəreɪt/
he / she / it separates	/ˈsepəreɪts/ /ˈsepəreɪts/
past simple separated	/ˈsepəreɪtɪd/ /ˈsepəreɪtɪd/
past participle separated	/ˈsepəreɪtɪd/ /ˈsepəreɪtɪd/
-ing form separating	/ˈsepəreɪtɪŋ/ /ˈsepəreɪtɪŋ/

Idioms Phrasal Verbs

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[intransitive, transitive] to divide into different parts or groups; to divide things into different parts or groups
- Stir the sauce constantly so that it does not separate.
- separate something Separate the eggs (= separate the yolk from the white).
- A civil war separated the two sides.
- separate A from B It is impossible to separate belief from emotion.
- separate A and B the law separating church and state
- separate something into something Make a list of points and separate them into ‘desirable’ and ‘essential’.
Extra Examples
- Mechanically separated meat made from cattle and sheep has now been banned.
- One cannot easily separate moral, social and political issues.
- These two branches of the science have now become clearly separated.
- an island resort totally separated from the mainland
- I separated the documents into two piles.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- completely
- carefully
- clearly
- …
verb + separate
- attempt to
- try to
- be difficult to
- …
preposition
- from
- into
phrases
- sharply separated
- totally separated
- widely separated
- …
See full entry
[intransitive, transitive] to move apart; to make people or things move apart
- South America and Africa separated 200 million years ago.
- They are actually twins separated at birth.
- separate from something South America separated from Africa 200 million years ago.
- separate into something We separated into several different search parties.
- separate somebody/something Police tried to separate the two men who were fighting.
- The war separated many families.
- separate A from B Those suffering from infectious diseases were separated from the other patients.
- separate A and B Women and men are separated in Orthodox synagogues.
- separate somebody/something into something The children were separated into two groups.
- It was impossible to separate the rival fans.
- The boys are separated from the girls.
- Two men separated from the others and walked towards me.
- Slave parents were forcibly separated from their children.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- completely
- carefully
- clearly
- …
verb + separate
- attempt to
- try to
- be difficult to
- …
preposition
- from
- into
phrases
- sharply separated
- totally separated
- widely separated
- …
See full entry
[transitive] to be between two people, areas, countries, etc. so that they are not touching or connected
- separate somebody/something A thousand kilometres separates the two cities.
- It is not uncommon for families to be separated by great distances.
- separate A from/and B A high wall separated our back yard from the playing field.
- At this point a barbed wire fence separates the United States and Mexico.
[intransitive] to stop living together as a couple with your husband, wife or partner
- They separated last year.
- separate from somebody He separated from his wife after 20 years of marriage.
Collocations Marriage and divorce
Marriage and divorceRomance
- fall/be (madly/deeply/hopelessly) in love (with somebody)
- be/believe in/fall in love at first sight
- be/find true love/the love of your life
- suffer (from) (the pains/pangs of) unrequited love
- have/feel/show/express great/deep/genuine affection for somebody/something
- meet/marry your husband/wife/partner/fiancé/fiancée/boyfriend/girlfriend
- have/go on a (blind) date
- be going out with/(especially North American English) dating a guy/girl/boy/man/woman
- move in with/live with your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner
Weddings
- get/be engaged/married/divorced
- arrange/plan a wedding
- have a big wedding/a honeymoon/a happy marriage
- have/enter into an arranged marriage
- call off/cancel/postpone your wedding
- invite somebody to/go to/attend a wedding/a wedding ceremony/a wedding reception
- conduct/perform a wedding ceremony
- exchange rings/wedding vows/marriage vows
- congratulate/toast/raise a glass to the happy couple
- be/go on honeymoon (with your wife/husband)
- celebrate your first (wedding) anniversary
Separation and divorce
- be unfaithful to/(informal) cheat on your husband/wife/partner/fiancé/fiancée/boyfriend/girlfriend
- have an affair (with somebody)
- break off/end an engagement/a relationship
- break up with/split up with/ (informal) dump your boyfriend/girlfriend
- separate from/be separated from/leave/divorce your husband/wife
- annul/dissolve a marriage
- apply for/ask for/go through/get a divorce
- get/gain/be awarded/have/lose custody of the children
- pay alimony/child support (to your ex-wife/husband)
Topics Family and relationshipsb1
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- legally
- recently
- forcibly
- …
verb + separate
- decide to
preposition
- from
See full entry
[transitive] separate somebody/something (from somebody/something) to make somebody/something different in some way from somebody/something else synonym divide
- Politics is the only thing that separates us (= that we disagree about).
- Her lack of religious faith separated her from the rest of her family.
- The judges found it impossible to separate the two contestants (= they gave them equal scores).
- Only four points separate the top three teams.

Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin separat- ‘disjoined, divided’, from the verb separare, from se- ‘apart’ + parare ‘prepare’.

Idioms

separate/sort out the men from the boys

to show or prove who is brave, skilful, etc. and who is not

sort out/separate the sheep from the goats

to recognize the difference between people who are good at something, intelligent, etc. and those who are not

sort out/separate the wheat from the chaff

to recognize the difference between useful or valuable people or things and those that are not useful or have no value
- We sifted through the application forms to separate the wheat from the chaff.