segregate

verb

seg·re·gate | \ ˈse-gri-ˌgāt

segregated; segregating

Definition of segregate

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1 : to separate or set apart from others or from the general mass : isolate

2 : to cause or force the separation of (as from the rest of society)

intransitive verb

1 : separate, withdraw

2 : to practice or enforce a policy of segregation

3 : to undergo genetic segregation

segregate

noun

seg·re·gate | \ ˈse-gri-gət

, -ˌgāt\

Definition of segregate (Entry 2 of 2)

: one that is in some respect segregated especially : one that differs genetically from the parental line because of genetic segregation

Other Words from segregate Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about segregate

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Synonyms & Antonyms for segregate

Synonyms: Verb

cut off, insulate, isolate, seclude, separate, sequester

Antonyms: Verb

desegregate, integrate, reintegrate

Did You Know?

The prefix se- means "apart", so when you segregate something you set it apart from the herd. The word typically means separating something undesirable from the healthy majority. During the apple harvest, damaged fruit is segregated from the main crop and used for cider. In prisons, hardened criminals are segregated from youthful offenders. Lepers used to be segregated from the general population because they were thought to be highly infectious. The opposite of segregate is often integrate, and the two words were in the news almost daily for decades as African-Americans struggled to be admitted into all-white schools and neighborhoods.

Examples of segregate in a Sentence

Verb

The civil rights movement fought against practices that segregated blacks and whites. Many states at that time continued to segregate public schools.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Ron had been planning to go back to education, to teach physics at the University of South Carolina, the very same school that wouldn't accept him as a student [because it was segregated at the time]. — Margaret Lazarus Dean, Popular Mechanics, "The Oral History of the Space Shuttle Challenger Disaster," 28 Jan. 2019 For much of the 20th century, the authorities in Sumter County treated them that way, too: they were segregated into Turkish public schools, Turkish theater seats and Turkish hospital beds. — Richard Fausset, New York Times, "Tracing the Roots of South Carolina’s ‘Turks,’ Before They Melt Away," 5 July 2018 In 2005, a federal judge found the government liable for segregating public housing in Baltimore, in violation of federal civil rights law — and ordered the agency to fix it. — Jillian Weinberger, Vox, "Greater Baltimore is starkly segregated by race and class. A housing program is trying to change that.," 30 Nov. 2018 Parents at a posh private school are unhappy over an administrator’s plan to continue allegedly segregating students by race. — Christopher Carbone, Fox News, "$45,000-per-year private school in uproar over plan to 'segregate' students by race," 1 July 2018 In the city, once besieged during the Civil War, schools and neighborhoods remained segregated through the 1960s. — Emily Wagster Pettus, The Seattle Times, "Mississippi could re-examine 1959 racial killing of teenager," 21 Aug. 2018 Voting is segregated throughout Pakistan with every single polling station divided into sections for men and women, including separate election officials. — Fox News, "Suicide blast kills 31 as Pakistan holds general elections," 25 July 2018 That was also true for African Americans, even in a country that was legally segregated in some places and functionally segregated virtually everywhere else. — Alissa Wilkinson, Vox, "Green Book builds a feel-good comedy atop an artifact of shameful segregation. Yikes.," 7 Jan. 2019 Similarly, Halston’s business sense, both in terms of licensing and his democratic belief that luxury and masstige could co-exist, were prescient, but also way in advance of an industry that still segregated high and low design. — Vogue, "Watch an Exclusive Clip of Halston Before Its Sundance Premiere—And Read What the Director and Producer Say About Its Making," 23 Jan. 2019

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Other sensitive data, including family trees and DNA data, are stored on segregate systems that are separate from those that house email addresses. — Kirsten Korosec, Fortune, "Ancestry Site MyHeritage Says 92 Million User Accounts Have Been Compromised," 5 June 2018 As public schools re-segregate, the rise in charter schools has not helped this trend. — Lincoln Anthony Blades, Teen Vogue, "Why Brown v Board of Education Is More Important Than Ever," 17 May 2018 There is also another cultural trend that has led many in our nation to ideologically self-segregate, not based on race, but based on ideology. — James Lankford, National Review, "The Best Approach To Racism: Engage Each Other," 19 Aug. 2017

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