Meaning of separate In English

• 0 existing or happening independently or in a different physical space:

  • The art department and the music department are in two separate buildings.

  • I try to keep meat separate from other food in the fridge.

  • I have my public life and my private life, and as far as possible I try to keep them separate.

  • Three youths have been shot and killed in separate incidents this month.

• 1 to (cause to) divide into parts:

  • The north and south of the country are separated by a mountain range.

  • You can get a special device for separating egg whites from yolks.

  • The top and bottom sections are quite difficult to separate.

• 2 to make people move apart or into different places, or to move apart:

  • At school they always tried to separate Jane and me because we were troublemakers.

  • Somehow, in the rush to get out of the building, I got separated from my mother.

  • Perhaps we should separate now and meet up later.

• 3 to consider two people or things as different or not related:

  • You can't separate morality from politics.

• 4 If a liquid separates, it becomes two different liquids.

• 5 to start to live in a different place from your husband or wife because the relationship has ended:

  • My parents separated when I was six and divorced a couple of years later.

• 6 existing or happening independently or in a different physical space:

  • The middle school and the high school are in two separate buildings.

  • I have my public life and my private life, and as far as possible I try to keep them separate.

• 7 to cause two or more people or things to stop being with or near each other, or to be positioned between two or more things:

  • [ T ] A six-foot-high wall separates ticket holders from those hoping to get tickets.

  • [ T ] Fighting broke out between two hockey players, and it took nearly five minutes to separate them.

• 8 not together, joined, or connected:

  • We realised that the best way to progress the project would be to set up a separate company.

  • We have separate bank accounts.

  • separate from sth The assets of the fund will be ring-fenced, which means they will be kept separate from the rest of the fund.

• 9 to divide into parts, or cause something to divide into parts:

  • separate (sth) from sth They oppose the idea of Scotland separating from Britain.

  • separate sth into sth We separated the workspace into cubicles using screens.

  • separate a company/business

• 10 to consider two people or things as different or not connected:

  • separate sth from sth These economic decisions cannot be separated from politics.

  • separate sth and sth I find it difficult to separate home and business.