Divide 可當及物和不及物動詞用，經常與介系詞 into 和 in 連用 (divide sth into pairs/groups/parts 等等)，意為「分；分成；劃分；分割」，如 The teacher divided the class into three groups. (老師把全班分成三個小組)；The film divides into two distinct halves. (影片分成明顯不同的兩半)；He divided his students in half. (他將他的學生分成兩半)。這動詞亦常與 among 和 between 連用 (divide sth between/among sb)，意為「分配；分發；分享」，如 The children divided the candy between/among themselves. (孩子們把糖果分吃了)；After his death his property was divided between/among his children. (他死後，他的財產由他的孩子們平分)；The chamber was nearly equally divided between conservative and liberal deputies. (議會中保守派和自由派議員的人數幾乎各半)；The prize money will be equally divided between/among the three winners. (獎金將由三名優勝者均分)。
Divide 亦不時與 from 連用 (divide sth from sth)，意為「使分開；使隔開」，如 A low wall divides our garden from theirs. (一道矮牆把我們的花園和他們的隔開)；The railway divides his family’s land from the plains below. (鐵路把他家的土地與下面的平原隔開)。這動詞還可跟 over, on 和 upon 連用來表示「分裂；意見分歧」的意思，如 The Board of Directors divided on [upon, over] the new project. (董事會對這個新計劃意見分歧)；My family divided on [upon, over] almost every political issue. (我家人對幾乎每個政治議題都各持己見)。此外，divide 與 with 連用的情況亦所在多有，其句型與 divide sth between/among sb 等量齊觀，即 divide sth with sb，意思同樣為「分配；分發；分享」，如 Work out how you would like to divide the money with us. (商量一下，你打算如何跟我們分這筆錢)；You have to divide the cake with your sister. (你必須跟你妹妹分吃這塊蛋糕)。
Divide 也是數學上不可或缺的用字，其後接 by (divide sth by sth)，意為「除以」，若接 into (divide sth into sth)，則意為「除」，如 10 divided by 2 is/equals 5. (10 除以 2 等於 5)；Divide 10 by 2 (10 除以 2 或用 2 除 10)；2 divides into 10 5 times./Two divides into ten 5 times. (2 除 10 得 5)；Divide 2 into 10 (2 除 10)。divide by 除了「除以」的意思外，還有一個比較普遍化的意思，那就是「使分歧；使分裂」，如 The ruling class was divided by internal conflicts. (統治階級因內部衝突而分裂)；We are divided by our nationalities, our languages, and our religions. (我們因國籍、語言和宗教信仰的不同而分歧)。
至於 divide up，這片語與 divide 完全同義，意為「分成；分開；分割；分配；分發；分享」，如 The prize money will be equally divided up between/among the three winners. (獎金將由三名優勝者均分)；The teacher divided the class up into three groups. (老師把全班分成三個小組)；a secret Soviet-German pack for dividing/dividing up Europe in 1940 (1940 年瓜分歐洲的蘇德秘密條約)。職是之故，divide up 跟 break up, think up 及其它與 up 組成的片語一樣，在某些情況中會被視為贅詞，因為 up 被認為是多餘的。然而，divide 和 divide up 都是正規英語。這些 up 組成的片語動詞有些是慣用語 (break 和 break up 並非相同的動作 — break 可意為「打破」或「打碎」，而 break up 一定是「打碎」)，有些是用來加強語氣或基於文體的需要。當 up 可省略時，保守派人士通常選擇省略 up 以求文體的簡潔。