isolate

Definition

To set apart or cut off from others.

Etymology

Back-formation from isolated, from French isolé, from Italian isolato, from Latin īnsulatus (whence also insulate), see -ate (etymology 1, 2 and 3).

Example Sentences

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