# divorce

/dɪˈvɔɹs/ (US) · /dɪvˈɔːs/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/divorce
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. legal end of marriage

noun · CEFR B1

the legal ending of a marriage by a court.

For teachers: the formal legal dissolution of a marriage by a judicial body or other competent authority.

- After ten years of marriage, they decided to get a divorce.
- The couple reached an amicable agreement regarding the division of assets before filing for a formal divorce.

### 2. separation of things

noun · CEFR B2

a complete separation between two things that used to be connected.

For teachers: a total separation or disjunction between entities, concepts, or groups that were formerly associated.

- There is often a divorce between what politicians promise and what they actually do.
- Critics argued that the new policy represented a dangerous divorce between economic theory and the reality of the local market.

### 3. animal pair separation

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

when two animals that usually stay together for life choose to find new partners.

For teachers: the dissolution of a pair bond between mated animals, typically observed in monogamous species.

- Scientists studied why some birds experience a divorce after a failed nesting season.
- In certain species of albatross, environmental stress has been linked to an increased rate of divorce among established breeding pairs.

### 4. to end a marriage

verb · CEFR B1

to legally end your marriage to someone.

For teachers: to legally dissolve one's marriage; can be used transitively with a spouse as the object or intransitively.

- They divorced last year but remained good friends for the sake of their children.
- He decided to divorce his wife after discovering she had been hiding significant financial debts from him for years.

### 5. to separate ideas or things

verb · CEFR B2

to separate two ideas or subjects so they are no longer linked.

For teachers: to detach or disassociate something from something else, often used in the passive voice.

- You cannot divorce the country's history from its current problems.
- It is impossible to divorce the artist's personal struggles from the dark themes present in his later paintings.

## Examples

- They decided to get a divorce after ten years of marriage.
- The lawyer explained that a divorce involves more than just signing papers; it requires a fair division of shared property.
- Scholars have noted a growing divorce between the theoretical models used in the classroom and the practical realities of the modern global marketplace.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.