divaricate

American  

[dahy-var-i-keyt, dih-, dahy-var-uh-kit, -keyt, dih-] / daɪˈvær ɪˌkeɪt, dɪ-, daɪˈvær ə kɪt, -ˌkeɪt, dɪ- /

verb (used without object)

divaricated, divaricating

1. to spread apart; branch; diverge.

2. Botany, Zoology.  to branch at a wide angle.

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adjective

1. spread apart; widely divergent.

2. Botany, Zoology.  branching at a wide angle.

divaricate British  

verb

1. (intr) (esp of branches) to diverge at a wide angle

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adjective

1. branching widely; forked

Other Word Forms

• divaricately adverb
• divaricatingly adverb
• divarication noun
• divaricator noun

Etymology

Origin of divaricate

1615–25; < Latin dīvāricātus (past participle of dīvāricāre ), equivalent to dī di- ² + vāric- (base of vāricāre to straddle; prevaricate ) + -ātus -ate ¹

Example Sentences

One minute they were vexed, their limbs divaricate, their movements speedy, as you'd imagine the mighty zebra of the plains.

From The Guardian

Cardinal teeth small, fragile, variable in number, and rarely divaricated.

From Project Gutenberg

Very similar, but smoother and deeper green, with more slender, linear-cylindric, more or less flexuous spikes, the lateral ones spreading or divaricate, and the sepals more frequently acute or acuminate.

From Project Gutenberg

Stems are many, tufted, slender, creeping and rooting, or ascending and suberect, simple or branched, 6 to 20 inches long and leafy and leaves bifarious and divaricate.

From Project Gutenberg

Divergent: spreading out from a common base; in Coleoptera, tarsal claws are divergent when they spread out only a little; divaricate when they separate widely.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• alter
• differ
• diverge
• diversify
• divide
• fluctuate
• modify
• range