DIVIDE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary
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English (US)

Meaning of divide in English

divide
verb
us
/dɪˈvaɪd/ uk
/dɪˈvaɪd/

divide verb (SEPARATE)

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B1 [ I or T ]
to (cause to) separate into parts or groups:
At the end of the lecture, I'd like all the students to divide into small discussion groups.
After the Second World War Germany was divided into two separate countries.
C1 [ T ]
to share:
I think we should divide (up) the costs equally among/between us.
B2 [ T ]
If something divides two areas, it marks the edge or limit of them:
There's a narrow alley that divides our house from the one next door.
This path marks the dividing line between my land and my neighbor's.
[ T ]
to use different amounts of something for different purposes or activities:
She divides her time between her apartment in New York and her house in the Berkshires.
[ I ] UK
If Members of Parliament divide, they vote by separating into two groups, one group who want the law that is being voted on to be accepted and one group who are against it:
After a lengthy debate, MPs/the House of Commons divided.
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Separating and dividing
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

divide verb (DISAGREE)

B2 [ T often passive ]
to cause a group of people to disagree about something:
The party is divided on/over the issue of capital punishment.
divide and conquer (also mainly UK divide and rule)
a way of keeping yourself in a position of power by causing disagreements among other people so that they are unable to oppose you:
It's just a fact that the principle that underpins any empire is divide and conquer.
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SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Separating and dividing
See more results »

divide verb (CALCULATE)

divide something by something
to calculate the number of times that one number fits (exactly) into another:
10 divided by 5 is/equals 2.
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divide (something) into something
C1
If a number divides into another number, it fits (exactly) into it when multiplied a particular number of times:
What do you get if you divide 6 into 18?
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divide
noun [ C ]
us
/dɪˈvaɪd/ uk
/dɪˈvaɪd/
C1
a difference or separation:
The divide between the rich and the poor in this country is continuing to grow.
SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Different and difference
See more results »
(Definition of divide from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

divide | Intermediate English

divide
verb [ I/T ]
us
/dɪˈvɑɪd/

divide verb [I/T] (SEPARATE)

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to separate into parts or groups, or to cause something to separate in such a way:
[ T ] Divide the cake into six equal parts.
[ I ] The votes divided equally for and against the proposal.
If something divides two areas, it marks the edge or limit of both of them:
[ T ] A narrow driveway divides our house from the one next door.
To divide a group of people is to cause them to disagree:
[ T ] The issue of tax reform continues to divide the country.

divide verb [I/T] (CALCULATE)

mathematics
to calculate the number of times one number is contained in another:
[ T ] 10 divided by 5 is/equals 2.
[ T ] What do you get if you divide 6 into 18?
divide
noun [ C ]
us/dɪˈvɑɪd/

divide noun [C] (SEPARATION)

a separation:
The river forms a divide between mountains and coastal plains.
It’s on taxes that the divide between the two candidates is widest.
(Definition of divide from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

divide | Business English

divide
verb
uk
/dɪˈvaɪd/ us
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[ T ]
to calculate the number of times one number fits into another:
Convert the euro amount into sterling by dividing the euro amount by the exchange rate.
[ I or T ]
to separate, or make something separate, into different parts or groups:
He and his brother decided to divide the company into two parts.
(Definition of divide from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of divide

divide
When it comes to vegetarians, the gender divide is not as severe.
From Huffington Post
I'd expected a mixed reaction, but not one so neatly divided along nationality lines.
From Huffington Post
But when it comes to specifics, the divide shows.
From CNN
Well, the pieces are divided into two teams of three, each one representing either the blue or orange light trails.
From Ars Technica
The total book publishing pie is not growing, yet it is being divided among ever more digital and print products.
From Huffington Post
But these bits of history did little to reveal how man and cat first reached, paw to hand, across that species divide.
From The Atlantic
Each parasite divides from one into say 24 to 32 parasites in 48 hours.
From Voice of America
Second, she points to the issue of the digital divide.
From NPR
I don't think we have 100 percent cause and effect here, but there is going to be some divide caused by this.
From MLive.com
The surface appears to be divided into irregularly-shaped segments that are ringed by narrow troughs.
From USA TODAY
How do such restrictions reinforce the divide between haves and have-nots?
From Wired
The entire federal government will divide between "essential" or excepted employees and "non-essential" or non-excepted employees, who will be furloughed starting today.
From ABC News
To teach one persective of history over another is damaging and only serves to divide us as a country.
From CNN
This qeoitsun mark should ring all the wise and others because that is the thin line dividing laws and norms.
From CNN
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with divide

divide

These are words often used in combination with divide.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

continental divide
That was the only route readily navigable by wagons over the continental divide.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
cultural divide
And sometimes language failures are just that - not a reflection of a deep cultural divide.
From the Cambridge English Corpus
east-west divide
It will mean an end to the east-west divide that has scarred our continent for too long.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
See all collocations with divide
What is the pronunciation of divide?
 

Translations of divide

in Chinese (Traditional)
分開, （使）分開, （使）分組…
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in Chinese (Simplified)
分开, （使）分开, （使）分组…
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in Spanish
dividir, dividirse, votar…
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in Portuguese
dividir, dividir-se, separar…
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in more languages
in Marathi
in Japanese
in Turkish
in French
in Catalan
in Dutch
in Tamil
in Hindi
in Gujarati
in Danish
in Swedish
in Malay
in German
in Norwegian
in Urdu
in Ukrainian
in Russian
in Telugu
in Arabic
in Bengali
in Czech
in Indonesian
in Thai
in Vietnamese
in Polish
in Korean
in Italian
भाग किंवा गटांमध्ये विभक्त होणे (कारण), सामायिक करण्यासाठी, एखादी गोष्ट दोन क्षेत्रांची विभागणी करत असेल तर ती त्यांची धार किंवा मर्यादा दर्शवते.…
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～が分かれる, ～を分ける, ～を区切る…
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bölmek, ayırmak, ikiye bölmek…
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(se) diviser, partager, répartir…
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dividir(-se), dividir…
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verdelen, scheiden, onder elkaar verdelen…
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(ஏதேனும் காரணத்திற்க்காக) பகுதிகளாக அல்லது குழுக்களாக பிரிக்க, பகிர்ந்து கொள்ள, ஏதாவது இரண்டு பகுதிகளைப் பிரித்தால்…
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विभक्त या विभाजित करना, बँटाना, विभक्त करके खंडों में बाँटना…
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વિભાજિત થવું, કરવું, વહેચવું…
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dele, inddele, fordele…
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dela [upp], dividera, dela…
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dibahagikan, kongsi, bahagi…
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teilen, verteilen, dividieren…
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dele, dele seg, splitte…
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بانٹنا, تقسیم ہونا, تقسیم کرنا…
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ділити, розходити(ся), розділяти(ся)…
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разделять(ся), делить, разделять…
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విభజించు, భాగాలు లేదా సమూహాలుగా విభజించడానికి కారణం అగు, పంపిణీ…
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يُقَسِّم, يُقَسِم ( يَقوم بِعَمَليّة القِسْمة – رياضيات)…
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বিভক্ত করা, ভাগ করা, সীমারেখায় দুটি অঞ্চল বিভক্ত করা…
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(roz)dělit (se), rozcházet se, rozdělit (si)…
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membagi, membagi-bagi…
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แบ่งแยก, แบ่งกันระหว่าง, แบ่งปันท่ามกลาง…
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phân chia, chia sẻ, chia…
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dzielić (się), dzielić, przedzielać…
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나누다, (경계선이) 나누다, (수학) 나누다…
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dividere, separare, essere divisibile…
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