bifurcated

adjective

bi·​fur·​cat·​ed ˈbī-(ˌ)fər-ˌkā-təd How to pronounce bifurcated (audio)
bī-ˈfər-
: divided into two branches or parts
This near-earth asteroid appears as a bifurcated structure, consisting of two distinct lobes that seem to be in contact.Richard P. Binzel et al.
The town is a bifurcated community—two distinct communities in one, really.Dennis Farney
… the strange bifurcated world of whiteness and blackness in which I was born and reared.William Styron

Examples of bifurcated in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Birdsong and road noise are the poles of Bray Poor’s bifurcated sound world. Jesse Green, New York Times, 13 Sep. 2023 Ancient Roman poet Prudentius even blames a bifurcated tongue as the very origin of sin. Parizaad Khan Sethi, Allure, 24 Aug. 2023 The case involved a challenge to Hawaii’s absolute ban on possessing butterfly knives, a type of small knife with a bifurcated handle that folds upward to cover the blade when sheathed. Matt Ford, The New Republic, 9 Aug. 2023 Fueling Voelcker's prediction for a bifurcated fleet is the fact that heavy-duty vehicles weigh out of current EPA fuel-economy oversight and have easier emission targets to meet. Tony Quiroga, Car and Driver, 29 June 2023 At least the recent It movies had an internal logic to the split, which mirrored the bifurcated structure of Stephen King’s novel. Vulture, 14 June 2023 But things at the mysterious corporation are not all they're cracked up to be, and his bifurcated world begins to slowly unravel. Andrew Walsh, EW.com, 29 Apr. 2023 This includes the Spousal Support and Attorney Fees issue, along with the bifurcated Validity of Premarital Agreement proceeding. Charmaine Patterson, Peoplemag, 4 Feb. 2023 The bifurcated structure, which has both Max and Carson leading storylines that intersect only occasionally, does prove surprisingly effective — in their similarities or contrasts, each half of the story manages to enhance the other without eclipsing it. Angie Han, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Aug. 2022 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bifurcated.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1853, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of bifurcated was in 1853

Dictionary Entries Near bifurcated

Cite this Entry

“Bifurcated.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bifurcated. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.

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