segregate

verb

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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

Antonyms: Verb

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 Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, public schools cannot exclude students with disabilities or segregate them unnecessarily from their peers. — The Salt Lake Tribune, 29 Aug. 2021 Under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act, public schools cannot exclude students with disabilities or segregate them unnecessarily from their peers. — Lindsay Whitehurst And Colleen Long, Anchorage Daily News, 28 Aug. 2021 Americans shouldn’t segregate into mockable and non-mockable factions. — David Harsanyi, National Review, 24 Aug. 2021 White officers placed cardboard dividers to segregate him in patrol cars. — Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press, 25 Aug. 2021 Stacy Deemar, who is white, says in her complaint the district has used teacher training sessions to segregate and impugn white people, calling them inherently racist and privileged, and has compelled teachers to pass on those lessons to children. — John Keilman, chicagotribune.com, 1 July 2021 It is shared that the Oklahoma state legislature’s first action following the approval of statehood in 1906 was to segregate the public transportation system. — Chadd Scott, Forbes, 16 June 2021 The goal of the renovation is to segregate the public areas vs. the private spaces. — Marc Bona, cleveland, 4 June 2021 For complex global networks, blast zones that automatically shut down and segregate networks in the event of an attack can buy you extra time and halt the spread. — Steve Durbin, Forbes, 22 June 2021 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, 5 June 2018 As public schools re-segregate, the rise in charter schools has not helped this trend. — Lincoln Anthony Blades, Teen Vogue, 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, 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.