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

Their divide is far more soluble than that of the underlying conflict in the Middle East, but bridging it still remains a work in progress.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

In the past, external enemies tended to unify the country rather than divide it, he said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

Our estate plan currently includes a trust and wills that divide our assets equally between them after we are both gone.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

Regardless of any rebranding this season, there remains a deep divide within cricket over the very existence of The Hundred.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Arabic numerals are tools which enable me to add and subtract, multiply and divide on a piece of paper far more fluently than I could with Roman numerals.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

But some of those divides are more easily healed than others.

From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026

Investors generally prefer looking at forward price-to-earnings ratio for stocks, which divides share price by consensus 12-month earnings-per-share estimates.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

Since Disney introduced Lightning Lanes in 2021, debate has raged over whether letting people pay for shorter waits is savvy crowd management or nickel-and-diming that divides people by income.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

And that geographical imbalance helped further fuel ideologically divides.

From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026

Though there are no gates, an invisible line divides the village in two halves.

From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung

You’re doing your own debate show now, but when you describe it more fully, you talk about conversation; you talk about creating dialog at a time when America is uniquely divided.

From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026

That’s a maximum tax of $22,878, divided 50/50 between workers and their employers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

For strategists at Citigroup led by Alex Saunders, if control of the federal government becomes divided between the parties, it’s likely to be good news for bond markets.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 17, 2026

The ensuing drama has left the town divided.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

When Martha Washington died in May 1802, some of the Custis dower slaves were divided among her four grandchildren, and others were freed.

From "In the Shadow of Liberty" by Kenneth C. Davis

As executor, am I responsible for dividing and retitling the IRAs among the five beneficiaries, or is that handled by the financial institution and/or the beneficiaries themselves?

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

A day after being forced out, Fedorov on Thursday held an extraordinary press conference at which he accused the commander of dividing the country.

From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026

Large crowds gathered at the Gibraltar-Spain border overnight into Wednesday as part of the fence dividing the British overseas territory from the EU member country was pulled down.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026

Fundamentally there is the speed of a moving object, calculated by dividing distance by time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026

A creek ran at the side of the property dividing us from the large house next door, which Mami said belonged to “una gente rica ”—rich folks.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Related Words

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