bifurcate

verb bi·fur·cate \ ˈbī-(ˌ)fər-ˌkāt , bī-ˈfər- \

Updated on: 20 Apr 2018

Definition of bifurcate

bifurcated; bifurcating

transitive verb

: to cause to divide into two branches or parts

bifurcate a beam of light

intransitive verb

: to divide into two branches or parts

The stream bifurcates into two narrow channels.

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bifurcate

play \(ˌ)bī-ˈfər-kət, -ˌkāt; ˈbī-(ˌ)fər-ˌkāt\ adjective

See bifurcate defined for English-language learners

bifurcate was our Word of the Day on 08/14/2017. Hear the podcast!

Examples of bifurcate in a Sentence

The stream bifurcated into two narrow winding channels.
bifurcate a beam of light

Recent Examples of bifurcate from the Web

The dried blood snaked across Nick Foligno's grill, bifurcating below his right eye and running down his puffy cheeks, even staining several mustache hairs dark red.

— alex prewitt, SI.com, "Despite Injuries and Penalties, Blue Jackets Prove Resilient in OT Win Against Capitals," 13 Apr. 2018
The election bifurcated time into the before and the after.

— Vogue, "Why I Haven’t Been on a Date Since Trump Was Elected," 14 Feb. 2018
Society is bifurcating into those who are part of the innovation economy (lords) and those who aren’t (serfs).

— scott galloway, Esquire, "Silicon Valley’s Tax-Avoiding, Job-Killing, Soul-Sucking Machine," 8 Feb. 2018
As most civically literate Americans know, the Constitution bifurcated the nation’s war-making powers.

— david french, National Review, "Release the Memo That Really Matters," 7 Feb. 2018
All of humanity bifurcated into a good-vs.-evil, winner-take-all main event while a greater existential threat—the zombie apocalypse—looms.

— john walters, Newsweek, "How ‘The Walking Dead’ and ‘Game of Thrones’ Became the Same Show," 12 Oct. 2017
The case was bifurcated into two phases with Phase 1 determining whether the plaintiffs had exhausted their administrative remedies by first protesting the fees at the district’s Proposition 218 public hearings on proposed sewer fee increases.

— karen brainard, Ramona Sentinel, "Court grants RMWD counsel extension to file briefs," 13 Dec. 2017
There are reminders everywhere: buildings buckling, floes of concrete and brick spilling across sidewalks, familiar streets bifurcated by strands of red and yellow emergency tape and patrolled by soldiers in uniform.

— azam ahmed and paulina villegas, New York Times, "After Mexico Earthquake, Tremors of Anxiety," 25 Sep. 2017
Health-care experts warned that the order could bifurcate the market between the healthy and the sick.

— james hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Bob Corker tirade encapsulates five reasons why Trump has failed at governing," 9 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bifurcate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Yogi Berra, the baseball great who was noted for his head-scratching quotes, is purported to have said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Yogi’s advice might not offer much help when making tough decisions in life, but perhaps it will help you remember today’s word, bifurcate. A road that bifurcates splits in two like the one in Yogi’s adage. Other things can bifurcate as well, such as an organization that splits into two factions. Bifurcate derives from the Latin bifurcus, meaning "two-pronged," a combination of the prefix bi- ("two") and the noun furca ("fork"). Furca, as you can probably tell, gave us our word fork.