MEANING
Divide an existing whole or group into smaller parts or categories.
Use it for
breaking a broad category into more specific groups; examining variation within an aggregate; describing a further division of an already defined unitSpecifies division within an existing group while keeping membership rules and resulting sample sizes explicit. Academic functions: Research / Methodology, Analysis / Interpretation.
Words that belong together
- subdivide the sample
- subdivide into categories
- subdivide a group
On the page
The analysis subdivides the sample by employment status to examine differences hidden in the overall average.
The critic subdivides the period into phases while explaining why the chosen boundaries matter.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- subdivide
- Past tense
- subdivided
- Past participle
- subdivided
- Present participle
- subdividing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- subdivide
- Present continuous
- am/is/are subdividing
- Present perfect
- have/has subdivided
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been subdividing
- Past
- subdivided
- Past continuous
- was/were subdividing
- Past perfect
- had subdivided
- Past perfect continuous
- had been subdividing
- Future
- will subdivide
- Future continuous
- will be subdividing
- Future perfect
- will have subdivided
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been subdividing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Transitive or intransitive verb. Third-person subdivides; simple past and past participle subdivided; present participle subdividing. Subdivide into smaller parts or categories. Register: formal. Commonness: moderately common (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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