subdivide
Americanverb (used with object)
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subdivides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
subdivided,
past participle, past
-
subdividing
present participle
-
to divide (that which has already been divided) into smaller parts; divide again after a first division.
-
to divide into parts.
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to divide (a plot, tract of land, etc.) into building lots.
verb (used without object)
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subdivides,
present (3rd person singular)
-
subdivided,
past participle, past
-
subdividing
present participle
verb
-
to divide (something) resulting from an earlier division
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(tr) to divide (land) into lots for sale
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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subdividesimple
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subdividessimple
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have subdividedperfect
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has subdividedperfect
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am subdividingprogressive
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are subdividingprogressive
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is subdividingprogressive
-
have been subdividingperfect progressive
-
has been subdividingperfect progressive
Past
-
subdividedsimple
-
had subdividedperfect
-
was subdividingprogressive
-
were subdividingprogressive
-
had been subdividingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of subdivide
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English word from Late Latin word subdīvīdere. See sub-, divide
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
My initial thought is that, unless local planning laws allow you to subdivide the property, your son will be building a house on land that you own — not on property that your son owns.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
And so even in the legislature, we subdivide power again between Senate and house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Unlike state criminal codes, the federal criminal code does not “grade” or subdivide most of its white-collar offenses.
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2023
“That male lineage unifies the tomb, whereas female ancestors subdivide the community.”
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 4, 2023
But she was probably being modest, because if you looked harder at Weisberg’s life you could probably subdivide her experiences into fifteen or twenty worlds.
From "The Tipping Point" by Malcolm Gladwell
It starts broad with three domains: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eukarya, then subdivides into kingdoms, continuing to narrow itself down all the way to species.
From Salon ● Dec. 10, 2022
Yet another, June Living, subdivides homes and individual apartments into single-room rentals.
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 13, 2018
In the high-energy “Blow High, Blow Low,” a dance for 11 men becomes one for 10, then subdivides into smaller groups before suddenly swelling to 14.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2018
Anchored by an instantly likable teen, "Becoming Us" uses a screen that often subdivides into video blogs, FaceTime chats and texts to make its preference for selfie over soapbox instantly clear.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2015
However, if the forces available are not deemed adequate, the commander either modifies the operations, or restricts them, or subdivides them into parts for performance in succession by stages.
From Sound Military Decision by Edward C. (Edward Clifford) Kalbfus
If the property cannot be subdivided, his house would increase the value of your overall property, but ownership would still remain with the family trust.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Tens of thousands of people housed in these monuments to pre-revolutionary Cuba, which were subdivided into apartments after Fidel Castro took power in 1959, live on the edge, literally.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
It also features five precision-calibrated plates and degree divisions "so fine they are subdivided down to a third of a degree".
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2026
It is covered in a grid of regular box-like shapes, each subdivided into smaller, repeating units.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2026
It is the flight from us that sent them sprawling into the subdivided woods.
From "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Find out why subdividing the land is not allowed.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
Titanic estates have dotted L.A. over the last century, but most have been whittled down by developers subdividing the lots and selling them as separate properties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2025
About 340 million years ago, leaves sported veins that branched like a tree, with a main “trunk” subdividing into multiple branches.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 30, 2024
He told Palm Beach town officials he couldn’t afford the $3 million annual upkeep, and proposed subdividing the property and building mansions.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2023
One of the most characteristic ways of subdividing struggles is on the basis of whether they are of a nature which admits of compromise or not.
From Introduction to the Science of Sociology by Robert Ezra Park
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
