separator

[sep-uh-rey-ter]

noun

a person or thing that separates.
any of various apparatus for separating one thing from another, as cream from milk, steam from water, or wheat from chaff.
Electricity. a device that prevents metal contact between plates of opposite charge in a storage battery.

Machinery. retainer¹(def 3).

Origin of separator

1600–10; < Late Latin sēparātor, equivalent to Latin sēparā(re) to separate + -tor -tor

Related formspre·sep·a·ra·tor, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for separator

Contemporary Examples of separator

Once the separator is clipped onto the cup, you can flip it over the edge.
The 2012 Holiday Kitchen Gift Guide
Megan McArdle
December 13, 2012

Historical Examples of separator

The Philadelphia separator is made of quarter sawed hardwood.
The Automobile Storage Battery
O. A. Witte
Therefore, keep the separator tank in a clean place and keep a cover on it.
The Automobile Storage Battery
O. A. Witte
He took the separator apart and carried it up to his mother to be washed.
Here and Now Story Book
Lucy Sprague Mitchell
He took the strap off one wheel and put it around the wheel of the separator.
Here and Now Story Book
Lucy Sprague Mitchell
The graphic used as a separator is taken from the cover design.
Little Yellow Wang-lo
M. C. Bell

British Dictionary definitions for separator

separator

noun

a person or thing that separates
a device for separating things into constituent parts, as milk into cream, etc

Derived Formsseparatory, adjective

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 separator

c.1600, "separatist," agent noun from separate (v.). As a mechanical device for separating, from 1831.