See Also:

apart (oh)



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 ?not close/touching?
2 ?in different pieces?
3 ?separate?
4 ?not at same time?
5 ?people?
6 fall apart
7 be torn apart
8 be worlds/poles apart
9 grow/drift apart
10 joking apart
11 somebody/something apart
12 set somebody/something apart
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: Old French; Origin: a part 'to the side']
?NOT CLOSE/TOUCHING?
if things are apart, they are not close to each other or touching each other
two miles/six feet etc apart
::Place the two posts 6 metres apart.
::They have offices in countries as far apart as India and Peru.
::The police try to keep rival supporters apart at all matches.
::A couple of men started fighting and we had to pull them apart .
::Joel stood apart from the group, frowning.
?IN DIFFERENT PIECES?
if something comes apart, or you take it apart, it is separated into different pieces
::The whole thing comes apart so that you can clean it.
::They took the engine apart to see what was wrong.
?SEPARATE?
if you keep things apart, you keep them separate from each other
::I try to keep my work and private life as far apart as possible.
?NOT AT SAME TIME?
if things are a particular time apart, they do not happen at the same time but have that much time between them
two days/three weeks/five years etc apart
::Our birthdays are exactly a month apart.
?PEOPLE?
if people are apart, they are not together in the same place, or not having a relationship with each other
::The children have never been apart before.
::My wife and I are living apart at the moment.
apart from
::He's never been apart from his mother.
fall apart
a) if something falls apart, it breaks into different pieces
::It just fell apart in my hands!
b) if something is falling apart, it is in very bad condition
::He drives around in an old car that's falling apart.
c) if something falls apart, it fails completely
::He lost his job and his marriage fell apart.
::The country's economy is in danger of falling apart.
be torn apart
if a marriage, family etc is torn apart, it can no longer continue because of serious difficulties
::The play portrays a good marriage torn apart by external forces.
be worlds/poles apart
if people, beliefs, or ideas are worlds or poles apart, they are completely different from each other
::I realized we were still worlds apart.
grow/drift apart
if people drift or grow apart, their relationship slowly becomes less close
::Lewis and his father drifted apart after he moved to New York.
joking apart
used to say that you want to say something seriously
::Joking apart, they did do quite a good job for us.
sb/sth apart
except for someone or something
::The car industry apart, most industries are now seeing an improvement in their economic performance.
set sb/sth apart
to make someone or something different from other people or things
::Her unusual lifestyle set her apart as a child.