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definitions

divider

[dih-vahy-der]
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noun

a person or thing that divides.
dividers, a pair of compasses, as used for dividing lines, measuring, etc.
a partition between two areas or dividing one area into two, as a piece of cardboard in a box or a bookcase jutting out from a wall.
room divider.
Mining. bunton.

Origin of divider

First recorded in 1520–30; divide + -er1
Related formspre·di·vid·er, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for dividers

curtain, net, cover, sector, category, section, share, affiliate, split, branch, department, segment, class, envelope, veil, shield, mantle, shelter, concealment, partition

Examples from the Web for dividers

Historical Examples of dividers

  • It can be done with the dividers by using care in scribing the centers.

  • There is a knack in the use of the dividers, where accuracy is wanted, and where the surface is of wood.

  • But the brisk, courteous person with the dividers and tape-measure is reassuring.

    The Perfect Gentleman

    Ralph Bergengren

  • "I wonder if there is such a thing as a pair of dividers here," he remarked.

    The Secret Wireless

    Lewis E. Theiss

  • With his dividers he found the letter next nearest to the centre.

    The Secret Wireless

    Lewis E. Theiss

British Dictionary definitions for dividers

dividers

pl n

a type of compass with two pointed arms, used for measuring lines or dividing them

divider

noun

Also called: room divider a screen or piece of furniture placed so as to divide a room into separate areas
a person or thing that divides
electronics an electrical circuit with an output that is a well-defined fraction of the given inputa voltage divider
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for dividers

divider

n.

1520s, agent noun from divide (v.). Meaning "partition or screen," especially in a room, is from 1959.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper