divide

American  

[dih-vahyd] / dɪˈvaɪd /

verb (used with object)

• divides,
  present (3rd person singular)
• divided,
  past participle,  past
• dividing
  present participle

1. to separate into parts, groups, sections, etc.

   Antonyms:

   unite

2. to separate or part from something else; sunder; cut off.

   Synonyms:

   shear, sever

3. to deal out in parts; distribute in shares; apportion.

   Synonyms:

   portion, partition

4. to cleave; part.

5. to separate in opinion or feeling; cause to disagree.

   The issue divided the senators.

   Synonyms:

   estrange, alienate

6. to distinguish the kinds of; classify.

   Synonyms:

   distribute, arrange, sort

7. Mathematics.

   1. to separate into equal parts by the process of mathematical division; apply the mathematical process of division to.

      Eight divided by four is two.

   2. to be a divisor of, without a remainder.

8. to mark a uniform scale on (a ruler, thermometer, etc.).

9. British Government. to separate (a legislature, assembly, etc.) into two groups in ascertaining the vote on a question.

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verb (used without object)

• divides,
  present (3rd person singular)
• divided,
  past participle,  past
• dividing
  present participle

1. to become divided or separated.

2. to share something with others.

3. to diverge; branch; fork.

   The road divides six miles from here.

4. to perform the mathematical process of division.

   He could add and subtract but hadn't learned to divide.

5. British Government. to vote by separating into two groups.

noun

• divides
  plural

1. a division.

   a divide in the road.

2. Physical Geography. the line or zone of higher ground between two adjacent streams or drainage basins.

3. Archaic. the act of dividing.

divide British  

/ dɪˈvaɪd /

verb

1. to separate or be separated into parts or groups; split up; part

2. to share or be shared out in parts; distribute

3. to diverge or cause to diverge in opinion or aim

   the issue divided the management

4. (tr) to keep apart or be a boundary between

   the Rio Grande divides Mexico from the United States

5. (intr) (in Parliament and similar legislatures) to vote by separating into two groups

6. to categorize; classify

7. to calculate the quotient of (one number or quantity) and (another number or quantity) by division

   to divide 50 by 10

   to divide 10 into 50

   to divide by 10

8. (intr) to diverge

   the roads divide

9. (tr) to mark increments of (length, angle, etc) as by use of an engraving machine

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noun

1. an area of relatively high ground separating drainage basins; watershed See also continental divide

2. a division; split

divide Scientific  

/ dĭ-vīd′ /

1. To subject (a number) to the process of division.

2. To be a divisor of.

3. To use (a number) as a divisor.

4. To perform the operation of division.

5. To undergo cell division.

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Synonym Usage

See separate.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misdivide
  verb
• redivide
  verb
• predivide
  verb (used with object)
• dividable
  adjective
• undividing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• divides
  plural

Participles

• dividing
  present
• divided
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• divide
  simple
• divides
  simple
• have divided
  perfect
• has divided
  perfect
• am dividing
  progressive
• are dividing
  progressive
• is dividing
  progressive
• have been dividing
  perfect progressive
• has been dividing
  perfect progressive

Past

• divided
  simple
• had divided
  perfect
• was dividing
  progressive
• were dividing
  progressive
• had been dividing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will divide
  simple
• will have divided
  perfect
• will be dividing
  progressive
• will have been dividing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of divide

First recorded 1325–75; Middle English (from Anglo-French divider ), from Latin dīvidere “to separate, divide”

Explanation

When you divide something, you separate it into different parts. A pizza maker may divide a ball of dough into two parts to make two pies, or you might even divide a stick of gum in half to share it with a friend. The verb divide can refer to the splitting apart of anything, whether it’s pizza dough, gum, time, a country, or a political group. Math types probably already know that the word also can refer to a mathematical function involving figuring out how many times a certain number contains another number. As a noun, divide means a hostile split between two groups, such as a growing divide between conservative and liberal groups.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

divide divides divided dividing

She attributes some of the gender divide to the fact that the two demographics are often presented with different informational realities, though it is difficult to quantify.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

And how should we divide our retirement savings?

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

There was a geographic divide in giving by Californians.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

There are large disagreements that divide the U.S. and China, and managing them peacefully requires a foundation of trust.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026

Take any term and divide it by its previous term.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

That ending, which I won’t spoil here, is where the film most often divides.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

As more than two million freshmen arrive at college this fall, many are encountering civic-dialogue programs—an effort to build bridges across political divides.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Those signals can influence major cellular decisions, including whether a cell divides, moves or dies.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 15, 2026

Per capita divides the account equally among whoever is still living, which can inadvertently cut out an entire branch of the family.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

It’s got steps up the middle, which divides it into two sections, one for home, one for away.

From "The Running Dream" by Wendelin Van Draanen

The legislation put forward in Congress on Friday was divided into two separate decrees.

From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026

The satire from director Alejandro González Iñárritu about an impending climate change apocalypse has divided critics, yielding very mixed reviews.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

In addition to being ideologically divided, young men and women have vastly different beliefs about religion and gender.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

These same patterns held true when the overall group of respondents was divided another way: ones who felt more socially pressured to give and others who felt less.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

I’d read in the newspaper about Mr. Lincoln saying the same thing in a speech to folks in Ohio: “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

I’ve proposed dividing what we built while she was raising the children equally.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 1, 2026

What’s dividing fans is Julian Casablancas’ insistence on using Autotune, as many prefer his raw vocals.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

These zombie-like senescent cells stop dividing, yet they remain alive and active.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

To get annual figures, Bending Spoons said it averaged four quarterly percentages, a method that can smooth out big swings in churn, rather than dividing one full-year revenue number by another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

Instead of dividing by zero as Newton and Leibniz did, modern mathematicians divide by a number that they let approach zero.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Related Words

• break
• break down
• carve
• cut
• isolate
• partition
• segregate
• split
• subdivide
• tear