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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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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
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But insurance experts worry that the proposal would bifurcate the insurance market, sending the healthy to cheaper, less comprehensive insurance and the sick to plans that comply with all the federal mandates.
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But if that fails, a senior White House source tells Fox News colleague John Roberts that President Trump wants to bifurcate repeal from replace.
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Doctors who discriminate between elective and therapeutic abortions are violently bifurcating women, slicing them at the intersection of body and mind.
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The word has since bifurcated to refer either to the kind of secretary who nowadays prefers to be known as an executive assistant, thank you, or the kind who heads an executive department of the federal government.
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In Selma, about 100 pages later, the question recurs: the image shows a flat, barren geometry of a monochromatic street bifurcated by a vivid telephone pole.
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Many people say that the United States is bifurcating into a nation of rich and poor – with the rich getting ever more benefits and the poor being treated, well, poorly.
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Moodus Reservoir, bifurcated into Upper and Lower, covers nearly 500 acres.
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Recent events show that his approach to the world has bifurcated, turning traditionally internationalist on foreign policy while remaining starkly nationalist on...
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.
Origin and Etymology of bifurcate
Medieval Latin bifurcatus, past participle of bifurcare, from Latin bifurcus two-pronged, from bi- + furca fork
Other Biology Terms
BIFURCATE Defined for English Language Learners
bifurcate
playDefinition of bifurcate for English Language Learners
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: to divide into two parts
Medical Dictionary
Medical Definition of bifurcate
bifurcated
;bifurcating
: to divide into two branches or parts
Learn More about bifurcate
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See words that rhyme with bifurcate Britannica English: Translation of bifurcate for Arabic speakers
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