separate (adj.)

  1. independent; not united or joint; a problem consisting of two separate issues; they went their separate ways; formed a separate church'

    separate (n.)

  1. a separately printed article that originally appeared in a larger publication

    [ Syn: offprint , reprint ]

  2. a garment that can be purchased separately and worn in combinations with other garments

    separate (adj.)

  1. standing apart; not attached to or supported by anything; a freestanding bell tower; a house with a separate garage

    [ Syn: freestanding ]

  2. separated according to race, sex, class, or religion; separate but equal; girls and boys in separate classes'

  3. have the connection undone; having become separate

    [ Syn: disjoined ]

    separate (v.)

  1. act as a barrier between; stand between; The mountain range divides the two countries

    [ Syn: divide ]

  2. become separated into pieces or fragments; The figurine broke; The freshly baked loaf fell apart

    [ Syn: break , split up , fall apart , come apart ]

  3. treat differently on the basis of sex or race

    [ Syn: discriminate , single out ]

  4. come apart; The two pieces that we had glued separated

    [ Syn: divide , part ]

  5. divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork; The road forks

    [ Syn: branch , ramify , fork , furcate ]

  6. force, take, or pull apart; He separated the fighting children; Moses parted the Red Sea

    [ Syn: disunite , divide , part ]

  7. mark as different; We distinguish several kinds of maple

    [ Syn: distinguish , differentiate , secern , secernate , severalize , severalise , tell , tell apart ]

  8. separate into parts or portions; divide the cake into three equal parts; The British carved up the Ottoman Empire after World War I

    [ Syn: divide , split , split up , dissever , carve up ]

  9. divide into components or constituents; Separate the wheat from the chaff'

  10. arrange or order by classes or categories; How would you classify these pottery shards--are they prehistoric?

    [ Syn: classify , class , sort , assort , sort out ]

  11. make a division or separation

    [ Syn: divide ]

  12. discontinue an association or relation; go different ways; The business partners broke over a tax question; The couple separated after 25 years of marriage; My friend and I split up

    [ Syn: part , split up , split , break , break up ]

  13. go ones own way; move apart; The friends separated after the party

    [ Syn: part , split ]

The dictionary is based on the WordNet Electronic Lexical Database.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2011 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.