From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary EnglishRelated topics: Familyseparationsep‧a‧ra‧tion /ˌsepəˈreɪʃən/ ●●○ noun1[uncountable]SEPARATE when something separates or is separate
the separation of church and stateseparation between
the zone of separation between the warring factions2[countable, uncountable]SEPARATE a period of time that two or more people spend apart from each other
the separation of families during wartime3[countable]SSFSEPARATE a situation in which a husband and wifeagree to live apart even though they are still married
their separation and later divorce →divorce1(1)Examples from the Corpusseparation• My husband and I are considering a separation.• The insecurities created by separation in the early and formative years take their toll in adult life.• The resulting chargeseparation, is in many ways analogous to photosynthetic charge separation.• Then comes what is called gravityseparation.• Failure of a student to maintain a minimumaverage for two consecutivesemesters results in his separation from the university.• In the case of separation or divorce, the children's needs should come first.• Since the separation they've each been seeing different people.• In 1965 members of parliamentregretted that the separation of children into different types of secondary schools impeded the raising of standards.• The worst part of the divorce was the separation from his three children.• How much worse the separation seemed then! at least for Helenhow much more real.• This separation creates inevitabletensions between the team and the consultant, which are inimical to good multidisciplinary work.• He said he understood her doubts and perhaps a trialseparation might be the answer.From Longman Business Dictionaryseparationsep‧a‧ra‧tion /ˌsepəˈreɪʃən/ noun [countable, uncountable] American EnglishHUMAN RESOURCESthe act of leaving your job, because you have been dismissed or have RESIGNEDThe job reductions will be met through layoffs andvoluntary separations (=when people leave their jobs willingly rather than being dismissed).Other employees are being offered separation packages providing three months’ to one year’s pay.
