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Definition of "bifurcate" [bi•fur•cate]

  • To divide into two parts or branches. (verb-transitive)
  • To separate into two parts or branches; fork. (verb-intransitive)
  • Forked or divided into two parts or branches, as the Y-shaped styles of certain flowers. (adjective)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "bifurcate" in a sentence
  • "Jan seems to think that using the word bifurcate makes it more intelligent to say that you have to try to implement your church doctrine exactly without comprimise in the political world."
  • "_ -- Most discussions of classification make reference to the so-called bifurcate scheme of division as the only one by which exhaustive division can be surely achieved."
  • "And at the same time that we've been going on, WTI and Brent have disconnected where WTI is contango and and Brent has flattened and is starting to bifurcate, which is the normal condition."