Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - divide

(divides, dividing, divided) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. When people or things are divided or divide into smaller groups or parts, they become separated into smaller parts. The physical benefits of exercise can be divided into three factors... It will be easiest if we divide them into groups... Divide the pastry in half and roll out each piece... We divide into pairs and each pair takes a region... Bacteria reproduce by dividing and making copies of themselves. = split VERB: be V-ed into pl-n, V n into pl-n, V n in fraction, V into pl-n, V, also V n 2. If you divide something among people or things, you separate it into several parts or quantities which you distribute to the people or things. Divide the sauce among 4 bowls. = share VERB: V n between/among pl-n 3. If you divide a larger number by a smaller number or divide a smaller number into a larger number, you calculate how many times the smaller number can fit exactly into the larger number. Measure the floor area of the greenhouse and divide it by six. VERB: V n by/into num 4. If a border or line divides two areas or divides an area into two, it keeps the two areas separate from each other. ...remote border areas dividing Tamil and Muslim settlements. ...the long frontier dividing Mexico from the United States. = separate VERB: V n, V n from n 5. If people divide over something or if something divides them, it causes strong disagreement between them. She has done more to divide the Conservatives than anyone else... The party is likely to divide along ideological lines. ? unite VERB: V n, V prep 6. A divide is a significant distinction between two groups, often one that causes conflict. ...a deliberate attempt to create a Hindu-Muslim divide in India. = rift N-COUNT: usu sing, usu with supp 7. A divide is a moment in time or a point in a process when there is a complete change from one situation to another. The time had come to cross the great divide between formality and truth. = watershed N-COUNT: usu sing, usu with supp 8. You use divide and rule to refer to a policy which is intended to keep someone in a position of power by causing disagreements between people who might otherwise unite against them. The government’s policies of divide and rule have only contributed to the volatility of the region. PHRASE c darkgreen]disapproval