📒 to separate into parts; to make something separate into parts
- The cells began to divide rapidly.
- divide into something The questions divide into two categories: easy and hard.
- divide up After lunch we divided up for group discussions.
📒 to separate something into parts and give a share to each of a number of different people, etc.
- They could not agree on how to divide the land.
- divide something up Jack divided up the rest of the cash.
- divide something (up) between somebody We divided the work between us.
📒 to use different parts of your time, energy, etc. for different activities, etc.
- divide something As working parents we think carefully about how we divide our time.
- divide something between A and B He divides his energies between politics and business.
- They divided their time between London and Boston.
📒 to separate into two or more parts that lead in different directions
- Where the path divides, keep right.
- divide into something The river divides into several channels.
- Just past the bridge by a new forestry block, the paths divide.
📒 to separate two people or things
- Can it ever be right to divide a mother from her child?
- The landowners were divided from the mass of poor peasants who lived in the surrounding area.
📒 to be the real or imaginary line or barrier that separates two people or things
- divide something (off) A fence divides off the western side of the grounds.
- divide A from B The English Channel divides England from France.
- A low wall divides the patio from the rest of the garden.
📒 to find out how many times one number is contained in another
- divide something by something 30 divided by 6 is 5 (= 30 ÷ 6 = 5).
- divide by something It's easy to divide by ten.
- The children are learning how to multiply and divide.
📒 to be able to be multiplied to give another number
- 5 divides into 30 6 times.
📒 to make people disagree
- divide somebody/something to divide the nation/country
- This issue has bitterly divided the community.
- The building divides opinion (= some people like it and some do not).
📒 to disagree
- Communities frequently divided along religious lines.
📒 to keep control over people by making them disagree with and fight each other, therefore not giving them the chance to join together and oppose you
- a policy of divide and rule
📒 to divide something into two equal parts; to divide into two equal parts
- The country was split down the middle over the strike (= half supported it, half did not).
- Divide the cake down the middle.
- It would seem the community has divided down the middle, with some favouring expansion and some dead set against it.