severed

[ sev-erd ]

adjective

1. separated from the whole or divided into parts, as by cutting or the like:

   The severed cables belonged to two internet companies.

2. (of ties or a relationship) broken off or dissolved:

   One of the greatest tragedies we see in our work is the severed relationships between those in need and their family and friends.

3. Law. (of an estate, titles of a statute, etc.) divided into parts:

   A practice known as severed property, or split estates, allows developers to keep or obtain mineral rights underneath privately owned land.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of sever.

Other Words From

• half-sev·ered adjective
• un·sev·ered adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of severed¹

sever ( def ) + -ed ²( def )

Example Sentences

Our brains are changing, forming new neural connections and severing others all the time, of course.

From Nautilus

In a plague year, anyone can get the significance of a severed head.

From Washington Post

In a way, the team artificially severed the mouse’s memory of sugar water from its previous real location, instead remapping it onto a new place with clever light-based hacking of the brain.

From Singularity Hub 

Jesse Marx reports that staff in the Sustainability Department, which manages the streetlights program, followed through with the mayor’s directive, severing the ties between police and the cameras.

From Voice of San Diego

The campus this year voted to support a student government referendum calling on the university to sever ties with fossil fuel companies by 2024, the campus newspaper, the Hoya, reported.

From Washington Post

“The events this year with Ukraine led to his ties with Cato being severed,” a source at the think tank told The Daily Beast.

From The Daily Beast

Uber severed ties with him, and on Monday he was charged with misdemeanor vehicular homicide.

From The Daily Beast

But the accent is just as clearly Trinidadian as he cracks jokes about a severed head he holds by the hair in his right hand.

From The Daily Beast

They decapitate those men deemed foes of their faith and celebrate the gore online, holding up the severed heads.

From The Daily Beast

In the raids that accompanied the arrests, police also found jars filled with formaldehyde containing severed fingers.

From The Daily Beast

This was a hard nut to crack, if his past were not to be ruthlessly severed from Angel's by a word.

From Project Gutenberg

On the other hand, his feet are so cold from the artery being severed that they anticipate mortification.

From Project Gutenberg

He went down on his knees, and, with his pocket-knife, severed the rope that secured the girl to the "reach."

From Project Gutenberg

By his death the connection between the kingdoms of England and Denmark was severed.

From Project Gutenberg

The glittering steel glided through the groove, and the head of Madame Roland was severed from her body.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• busted
• collapsed
• cracked
• crumbled
• crushed
• damaged
• defective
• demolished
• destroyed
• fractured
• fragmented
• injured
• mangled
• mutilated
• ruptured
• shattered
• smashed
• splintered