- [intransitive, transitive] to divide into different parts or groups; to divide things into different parts or groups（使）分开，分离；分割；划分
- Stir the sauce constantly so that it does not separate.不停地搅动酱汁，免得出现分层。
- separate something Separate the eggs (= separate the yolk from the white).把蛋黄和蛋清分开。
- A civil war separated the two sides.内战使双方分离。
- separate A from B It is impossible to separate belief from emotion.信仰和感情是分不开的。
- separate A and B the law separating church and state政教分离的法律
- separate something into something Make a list of points and separate them into ‘desirable’ and ‘essential’.列出各点，把它们分成 “渴望拥有的” 和 “绝对必要的” 两类。
Extra Examples- Mechanically separated meat made from cattle and sheep has now been banned.现在机械分割的牛羊肉已被禁止食用。
- One cannot easily separate moral, social and political issues.道德、社会和政治问题不容易区分开。
- These two branches of the science have now become clearly separated.这门科学的两大分支现在已经明确分开了。
- an island resort totally separated from the mainland一处远离大陆的海岛旅游胜地
- I separated the documents into two piles.我把文件分成两摞。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- completely
- carefully
- clearly
- …
verb + separate- attempt to
- try to
- be difficult to
- …
prepositionphrases- sharply separated
- totally separated
- widely separated
- …
See full entry - [intransitive, transitive] to move apart; to make people or things move apart（使）分离，分散
- South America and Africa separated 200 million years ago.南美洲和非洲于 2 亿年前分离。
- They are actually twins separated at birth.他们实际上是一出生就分开的双胞胎。
- separate from something South America separated from Africa 200 million years ago.2 亿年前南美洲和非洲分离。
- separate into something We separated into several different search parties.我们分成几个搜索小组。
- separate somebody/something Police tried to separate the two men who were fighting.警察力图把两个打架的人分开。
- The war separated many families.这场战争使许多家庭离散。
- separate A from B Those suffering from infectious diseases were separated from the other patients.传染病患者同其他病人隔离开来。
- separate A and B Women and men are separated in Orthodox synagogues.东正教犹太教堂里男女分开。
- separate somebody/something into something The children were separated into two groups.孩子们被分成两组。
- It was impossible to separate the rival fans.要把这些敌对的球迷分开是不可能的。
- The boys are separated from the girls.男孩和女孩是分开的。
- Two men separated from the others and walked towards me.两名男子与其他人分开，朝我走了过来。
- Slave parents were forcibly separated from their children.身为奴隶的父母被迫与自己的孩子分离。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- completely
- carefully
- clearly
- …
verb + separate- attempt to
- try to
- be difficult to
- …
prepositionphrases- sharply separated
- totally separated
- widely separated
- …
See full entry - [transitive] to be between two people, areas, countries, etc. so that they are not touching or connected隔开；阻隔
- separate somebody/something A thousand kilometres separates the two cities.两座城市相隔一千公里。
- It is not uncommon for families to be separated by great distances.家庭相隔很远并不罕见。
- separate A from/and B A high wall separated our back yard from the playing field.我们的后院和运动场之间隔着一堵高墙。
- At this point a barbed wire fence separates the United States and Mexico.在这一点上，一个带刺的铁丝网将美国和墨西哥隔开。
- [intransitive] to stop living together as a couple with your husband, wife or partner分居
- They separated last year.他们于去年分居了。
- separate from somebody He separated from his wife after 20 years of marriage.他和妻子在结婚 20 年后分居了。
Collocations Marriage and divorceMarriage and divorce结婚和离婚Romance恋爱- fall/be (madly/deeply/hopelessly) in love (with somebody)（疯狂地／深深地／无可救药地）爱上／爱着（某人）
- be/believe in/fall in love at first sight是／相信一见钟情；一见钟情
- be/find true love/the love of your life是／找到真爱／一生的爱
- suffer (from) (the pains/pangs of) unrequited love受单相思之苦
- have/feel/show/express great/deep/genuine affection for somebody/something对某人／某事有着／表示出强烈的／深深的／真挚的爱慕之情
- meet/marry your husband/wife/partner/fiancé/fiancée/boyfriend/girlfriend与丈夫／妻子／伴侣／未婚夫／未婚妻／男朋友／女朋友结识／结婚
- have/go on a (blind) date有个／去约会／相亲
- be going out with/(especially North American English) dating a guy/girl/boy/man/woman与一个小伙子／女生／男生／男人／女人在谈恋爱
- move in with/live with your boyfriend/girlfriend/partner与男朋友／女朋友／伴侣同居
Weddings婚礼- get/be engaged/married/divorced订婚；结婚；离婚
- arrange/plan a wedding安排婚礼
- have a big wedding/a honeymoon/a happy marriage举行隆重的婚礼；度蜜月；婚姻幸福
- have/enter into an arranged marriage有一个／走入包办婚姻
- call off/cancel/postpone your wedding取消／推迟婚礼
- invite somebody to/go to/attend a wedding/a wedding ceremony/a wedding reception邀请某人出席／参加婚礼／结婚典礼／结婚喜宴
- conduct/perform a wedding ceremony举行结婚典礼
- exchange rings/wedding vows/marriage vows交换戒指；互致结婚誓言
- congratulate/toast/raise a glass to the happy couple祝贺这对幸福的新人；为这对幸福的伉俪干杯
- be/go on honeymoon (with your wife/husband)（与妻子／丈夫）在／去度蜜月
- celebrate your first (wedding) anniversary庆祝第一个（结婚）纪念日
Separation and divorce分居和离婚- be unfaithful to/(informal) cheat on your husband/wife/partner/fiancé/fiancée/boyfriend/girlfriend对丈夫／妻子／伴侣／未婚夫／未婚妻／男朋友／女朋友不忠
- have an affair (with somebody)（和某人）有暧昧关系
- break off/end an engagement/a relationship解除／终止婚约／恋爱关系
- break up with/split up with/ (informal) dump your boyfriend/girlfriend与男友／女友分手；甩掉男友／女友
- separate from/be separated from/leave/divorce your husband/wife和丈夫／妻子分居；离弃丈夫／妻子；与丈夫／妻子离婚
- annul/dissolve a marriage宣布婚姻无效；解除婚姻关系
- apply for/ask for/go through/get a divorce申请／要求／办理离婚；离婚
- get/gain/be awarded/have/lose custody of the children获得／被判予／拥有／失去对孩子的监护权
- pay alimony/child support (to your ex-wife/husband)（向前妻／前夫）支付生活费／子女抚养费
Topics Family and relationshipsb1Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverbverb + separateprepositionSee full entry - [transitive] separate somebody/something (from somebody/something) to make somebody/something different in some way from somebody/something else区分；区别 synonym divide
- Politics is the only thing that separates us (= that we disagree about).我们之间唯一的分歧是政治观点。
- Her lack of religious faith separated her from the rest of her family.她缺乏宗教信仰，这使她跟家里的人格格不入。
- The judges found it impossible to separate the two contestants (= they gave them equal scores).裁判无法把两位参赛者分出高下。
- Only four points separate the top three teams.领先的三支队只相差四分。
Word Originlate Middle English: from Latin separat- ‘disjoined, divided’, from the verb separare, from se- ‘apart’ + parare ‘prepare’.
Idioms separate/sort out the men from the boys
- to show or prove who is brave, skilful, etc. and who is not表明／证明谁有技能（或更勇敢等）
sort out/separate the sheep from the goats
- to recognize the difference between people who are good at something, intelligent, etc. and those who are not区分能手与常人；分清智者和庸人
sort out/separate the wheat from the chaff
- to recognize the difference between useful or valuable people or things and those that are not useful or have no value识别优劣；分清好坏；去芜存菁
- We sifted through the application forms to separate the wheat from the chaff.我们仔细检查了申请表，把小麦和谷壳分开。
