isolate — English Dictionary

Verb

1. To set apart or cut off from others.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   island

   Examples

   By isolating these two main types of relation, hyponymy and incompatibility, we can characterize the relations between a large web of items.

   More examples (1)

   Iran could not be happier. The more Israel sinks into the West Bank, the more it is delegitimized and isolated, the more the world focuses on Israel’s colonialism rather than Iran’s nuclear enrichment, the more people call for a single democratic state in all of historic Palestine.

2. To place in quarantine or isolation.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Synonyms

   quarantine

3. To separate a substance in pure form from a mixture.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   To isolate the petroline the condensed oil is distilled again until fifty per cent. of oil has been obtained, and what is left in the still is petroline.

4. To insulate, or make free of external influence.

   Usage

   • Transitive

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

5. To separate a pure strain of bacteria etc. from a mixed culture.

   Usage

   • Transitive

6. To insulate an electrical component from a source of electricity.

   Usage

   • Transitive

7. To self-isolate.

   Usage

   • Intransitive

   Synonyms

   self-quarantine

Noun

1. Something that has been isolated.

   Examples

   We used electropherotypes in order to differentiate the original parental strains or isolates from the finally tumor cell-adapted isolates.

Adjective

1. isolated.

   Usage

   • Literary
   • not-comparable

   Related words

   insulantinsularinsularityinsulateinsulationinsulator

   Examples

   He said in his heart, the day his beard was shaven he was beaten, lost. He identified it with his isolate manhood.

   Its snaky acid kiss. It petrifies the will. These are the isolate, slow faults That kill, that kill, that kill.

   More examples (1)

   Narrow Yung-ch'ung streets quiet, / temple gardens all isolate mystery, / no one visits.

Verb

1. place or set apart

   Synonyms

   insulate

   Broader terms

   discriminateseparatesingle out

   Examples

   They isolated the political prisoners from the other inmates

2. obtain in pure form

   Broader terms

   getacquire

   Examples

   The chemist managed to isolate the compound

3. set apart from others

   Synonyms

   sequestersequestratekeep apartset apart

   Broader terms

   separatedisunitedividepart

   Examples

   The dentist sequesters the tooth he is working on

4. separate (experiences) from the emotions relating to them

   Broader terms

   classifyclasssortassortsort outseparate