Unravel vs Separate - What's the difference?
unravel | separate |
to separate the threads (of); disentangle
to become undone; to collapse
* 2010 , Ian Cowie,
*:The great Ponzi scheme that lies behind our State pension is unravelling – as they all do eventually – because money being taken from new investors is insufficient to honour promises issued to earlier generations.
(figurative) To clear from complication or difficulty; to unfold; to solve.
(figurative) To separate the connected or united parts of; to throw into disorder; to confuse.
* Dryden
Apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else).
Not together (with); not united (to).
To divide (a thing) into separate parts.
To disunite something from one thing; To disconnect.
* Dryden
* Bible, Romans viii. 35
To cause (things or people) to be separate.
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-07, author=David Simpson
, volume=188, issue=26, page=36, magazine=(The Guardian Weekly)
, title= To divide itself into separate pieces or substances.
(obsolete) To set apart; to select from among others, as for a special use or service.
* Bible, Acts xiii. 2
(usually, in the plural) Anything that is sold by itself, especially an article of clothing.
In intransitive terms the difference between unravel and separate
is that unravel is to become undone; to collapse while separate is to divide itself into separate pieces or substances.As verbs the difference between unravel and separate
is that unravel is to separate the threads (of); disentangle while separate is to divide (a thing) into separate parts.As an adjective separate is
apart from (the rest); not connected to or attached to (anything else).As a noun separate is
anything that is sold by itself, especially an article of clothing.unravel
English
Verb
- Stop playing with the seam of the tablecloth! You will unravel it.
- Mother couldn't unravel the ball of wool after the cat had played with it.
"State pension Ponzi scheme unravels with retirement at 70", The Telegraph , June 24th, 2010,
- New Ponzi Scheme Unravels !
- to unravel a plot
- to unravel a mystery
- to unravel the confusion
- Art shall be conjured for it, and nature all unravelled .
- ''to unravel the global compromise achieved in the Constitutional Treaty
- ''to unravel the broad consensus which was created
Usage notes
unraveling and unraveled are primarily US while unravelling and unravelled are primarily UK.Synonyms
* unriddle * solve * unsnarl * disentangleDerived terms
* unravellingAnagrams
* English ergative verbsseparate
English
Adjective
(-)- This chair can be disassembled into five separate pieces.
- I try to keep my personal life separate from work.
Verb
(separat)- From the fine gold I separate the alloy.
- Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Fantasy of navigation, passage=It is tempting to speculate about the incentives or compulsions that might explain why anyone would take to the skies in [the] basket [of a balloon]: […]; […]; or perhaps to muse on the irrelevance of the borders that separate nation states and keep people from understanding their shared environment.}}
- Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.