<B>divert, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to turn aside. <BR> <I>Ex. A ditch diverted water from the stream into the fields.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to amuse; entertain. <BR> <I>Ex. We were diverted by the clown's tricks. Listening to music diverted him after a hard day's work. I diverted myself with talking to my parrot (Daniel Defoe).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to distract. <BR> <I>Ex. A juggler or magician diverts attention from one hand by making feints with the other. The siren of the fire engine diverted the audience's attention from the play.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to embezzle; steal. <BR> <I>Ex. The dishonest treasurer diverted funds from the club's treasury.</I> <DD><I>v.i. </I> to turn aside from a course. <BR> <I>Ex. They ordered the pilot of the routine domestic flight to divert to North Korea (Manchester Guardian Weekly).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="diverter">
<B>diverter, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that diverts. <BR> <I>Ex. Angling was ... a rest to his mind ... a diverter of sadness (Izaak Walton).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B><B>=divertor.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="divertible">
<B>divertible, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be diverted. </DL>
<A NAME="diverticular">
<B>diverticular, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with a diverticulum. </DL>
<A NAME="diverticulitis">
<B>diverticulitis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> inflammation of one or more diverticula, especially in the intestine. </DL>
<A NAME="diverticulosis">
<B>diverticulosis, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a condition in which several diverticula are present in the intestines. </DL>
<A NAME="diverticulum">
<B>diverticulum, </B>noun, pl. <B>-la.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Anatomy, Medicine.) an abnormal, blind, tubular sac or process branching off from a canal or cavity. </DL>
<A NAME="divertimento">
<B>divertimento, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ti,</B> <B>-tos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>(Music.) an entertaining and light instrumental composition, usually in several movements. <BR> <I>Ex. Haydn ... is thought to have written ... well over two hundred divertimenti for chamber ensembles (New Yorker).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a diversion; divertissement. <BR> <I>Ex. The spy thrillers that have been awesomely climbing the bestseller polls ... are divertimenti, if you will, on the abrasive themes of retail and wholesale slaughter (Charles Poore).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="diverting">
<B>diverting, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that diverts; entertaining; amusing. adv. <B>divertingly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="divertissement">
<B>divertissement, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a diversion; amusement; entertainment. <DD><B> 2. </B>a short ballet performed between the acts of a play or between longer ballets. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Music.) a divertimento. </DL>
<B>divertor, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a resistor connected in parallel with the winding of a machine to divert some of the current. </DL>
<A NAME="dives">
<B>Dives, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the rich man in the parable of the rich man and the beggar (in the Bible, Luke 16:19-31). <DD><B> 2. </B>any rich man. </DL>
<A NAME="divest">
<B>divest, </B>transitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to rid or free; strip. <BR> <I>Ex. The sailor divested himself of his clothes and dived into the water. (Figurative.) The company divested itself of its holdings in the losing factory.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to force to give up; deprive. <BR> <I>Ex. A person in prison is divested of his right to vote.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>(Law.) to take away (property). </DL>
<A NAME="divestible">
<B>divestible, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be divested. </DL>
<A NAME="divestiture">
<B>divestiture, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of divesting. <DD><B> 2. </B>the state or condition of being divested. </DL>
<A NAME="divestment">
<B>divestment, </B>noun. =divestiture.</DL>
<A NAME="divesture">
<B>divesture, </B>noun. =divestiture.</DL>
<A NAME="divette">
<B>divette, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a lesser diva, especially a singer of musical comedy or the like. </DL>
<A NAME="divi">
<B>divi, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (British Informal.) dividend, especially a dividend paid to members of a local cooperative society. <BR> <I>Ex. The Rochdale Pioneers did make their idealism work and now we have the Cooperative Wholesale Society, though some think today's divi isn't really worth it (Sunday Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dividable">
<B>dividable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be divided; divisible. </DL>
<A NAME="divide">
<B>divide, </B>verb, <B>-vided,</B> <B>-viding,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to separate into parts. <BR> <I>Ex. A brook divides the field.</I> (SYN) sever, split. <DD><B> 2a. </B>to separate into equal parts. <BR> <I>Ex. When you divide 8 by 2, you get 4.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>to be a divisor of without a remainder. <BR> <I>Ex. 13 divides 65.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to give some of to each; share; apportion. <BR> <I>Ex. We divided the candy. (Figurative.) He divided his life between the country and the city.</I> (SYN) dispense. <DD><B> 4. </B>to cause to disagree; cause to differ in feeling, opinion, or interest. <BR> <I>Ex. Jealousy divided us.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to separate (a legislature or other voting group) into two groups in voting. <DD><B> 6. </B>to mark off in parts; graduate (a scale, instrument, or other measuring device). <DD><B> 7. </B>to distinguish by kinds; sort out; classify. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to separate into parts; part. <BR> <I>Ex. The road divides and forms two roads.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to do arithmetical or algebraic division. <BR> <I>Ex. He adds well, but has trouble dividing.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to share; split. <BR> <I>Ex. The profits are counted; let's divide.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to disagree; differ in feeling, opinion, or interest. <BR> <I>Ex. The school divided on the choice of a motto.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to vote by separating into two groups. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a ridge of land so situated that the streams on one side flow in the opposite direction to the streams on the other side; ridge between two regions drained by different river systems; watershed. <BR> <I>Ex. The Rocky Mountains form part of the Continental Divide. The minor spurs ... of the upland serve merely as divides between small tributaries (Finch and Trewartha).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>the act of dividing; division. </DL>
<A NAME="divide">
<B>Divide, </B>noun. =Great Divide.</DL>
<A NAME="divided">
<B>divided, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>separated. <DD><B> 2. </B>disagreeing in feeling, opinion, etc.. <BR> <I>Ex. Divided and tumultuous assemblies (Macaulay). A divided court, and a discontented people (Edward Gibbon).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>having a partition or dividing strip between opposite lanes. <BR> <I>Ex. a divided expressway.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Botany.) cut to the base so as to form distinct portions. <BR> <I>Ex. a divided leaf.</I> adv. <B>dividedly.</B> noun <B>dividedness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="dividedhighway">
<B>divided highway,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a highway with a median strip between lanes of traffic going in opposite directions. <BR> <I>Ex. Divided highways engineered for high-speed driving are completed ... from Augusta, Me., to the Illinois line (New York Times).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dividedskirt">
<B>divided skirt,</B> =culottes.</DL>
<A NAME="divideetimpera">
<B>divide et impera,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) divide and rule. </DL>
<A NAME="dividend">
<B>dividend, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a number or quantity to be divided by another. <BR> <I>Ex. In 8 / 2, 8 is the dividend.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>money earned as profit by a company and divided among the owners or stockholders of the company. <DD><B> 3. </B>a share of such money. <DD><B> 4. </B>a refund of part of the premiums paid to an insurance company, given to a person holding a participating insurance policy out of the company's surplus earnings. <BR> <I>Ex. With our policy-holder dividends your total savings can be really surprising (Newsweek).</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>(Law.) a sum of money divided among the creditors of a bankrupt estate. <DD><B> 6. </B>(Especially British.) a bonus. <BR> <I>Ex. Soldiers are citizens of death's grey land, Drawing no dividend from time's tomorrows (Siegfried Sassoon).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dividendwarrant">
<B>dividend warrant,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an order to pay a dividend to a stockholder. </DL>
<A NAME="divider">
<B>divider, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that divides. <BR> <I>Ex. There is a concrete divider in the center of the parkway.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a partition, such as a screen or bookcase, for dividing a room into parts or areas. <DD><B> 3. </B>a sheet of cardboard or the like for separating a notebook or a file of cards into parts. <BR> <I>Ex. a looseleaf divider, a card file separated by alphabetical dividers.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>dividers,</B> </I>a compass for dividing lines, measuring distances, charting a course, or the like. <BR> <I>Ex. She was like a child with a pair of dividers (Graham Greene).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dividingline">
<B>dividing line,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a real or imaginary line regarded as separating two positions, points of view, ideas, periods of time, or conditions. <BR> <I>Ex. A sea-barrier forms a far more fundamental dividing line than any land frontier (J. F. Pain). The dividing line between sanity and insanity is often hard to establish.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="dividivi">
<B>divi-divi, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1a. </B>a tropical American shrub or small tree of the pea family, whose astringent pods contain gallic and tannic acids that are used in tanning and dyeing. <DD><B> b. </B>its pods. <DD><B> 2a. </B>a related tree whose pods are used for making ink. <DD><B> b. </B>its pods. </DL>
<A NAME="dividual">
<B>dividual, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>divisible; dividable. <DD><B> 2. </B>separate; distinct. <DD><B> 3. </B>distributed; shared. <BR> <I>Ex. The obligation is dividual (Henry T. Colebrook).</I> adv. <B>dividually.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="divinable">
<B>divinable, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be divined. </DL>
<B>divination, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of foreseeing the future or foretelling the unknown by inspiration, by magic, or by signs and omens. <BR> <I>Ex. It is quite legitimate for a scientist to investigate whether such phenomena as, for example, mind reading or divination of the future (clairvoyance) do exist (Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).</I> (SYN) augury, prophecy. <DD><B> 2. </B>a skillful guess or prediction. </DL>
