From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdivorcedi‧vorce1 /dəˈvɔːs $ -ɔːrs/ ●●● S2 W2 noun 1 [countable, uncountable]SSFSCL the legal ending of a marriage → separation Why doesn’t she get a divorce? One in three marriages ends in divorce.file/sue/petition for divorce (=start the legal divorce process) His wife has started divorce proceedings. the rise in the divorce rate She received the house as part of the divorce settlement (=the amount of money, property etc each person receives in a divorce case). The Act extended the grounds (=legal reasons) for divorce.2 [countable usually singular] formalSEPARATE the fact of separating two related thingsdivorce between the divorce between theory and methodCOLLOCATIONSverbsget a divorce (=end your marriage)Their marriage had never been happy and in the end they got a divorce.go through a divorce (=experience getting a divorce)I was going through a divorce and it was a very painful time.want a divorceShe told him she wanted a divorce.ask (somebody) for a divorceShe asked her husband for a divorce after he had been unfaithful.a marriage ends in divorceFive years later, their marriage ended in divorce.file for divorce (also petition for divorce formal) (=start the legal divorce process)The next day I saw a lawyer and filed for a divorce.adjectivesa bitter divorce (=involving very angry feelings)After a long and bitter divorce, Wendy was looking forward to starting a new life.a messy divorce (=complicated and unpleasant to deal with)She wanted to avoid a messy divorce .a painful divorce (=causing a lot of sadness)I have been through a painful divorce, and know what it feels like.divorce + NOUNthe divorce rate (=the number of people who get a divorce)The country has a high divorce rate.divorce proceedings (=the legal processes of getting a divorce)His first marriage was unsuccessful and led to long divorce proceedings.a divorce settlement (=the amount of money, property etc each person gets in a divorce)She received a $10 million divorce settlement from her first husband.a divorce case (=a legal case dealing with a divorce)It was the biggest divorce case that an English court has dealt with.a divorce lawyer/court (=one dealing with divorce)She's a famous New York divorce lawyer.divorce papers (=documents concerning a divorce)My husband refused to sign the divorce papers.phrasesgrounds for divorce (=acceptable reasons for divorce, according to the law)Violence and neglect are grounds for divorce.
Examples from the Corpus
divorce• Or see them through an abortion, a divorce, a gruelling court-case?• Caroline's husband asked her for a divorce and she agreed.• It's much too easy to get a divorce nowadays.• It is too much like a divorce.• Many say they have seen too many bad marriages and divorces even to try it themselves.• Gwen has just been through a bitter divorce.• A third of all marriages in Britain end in divorce.• Half the marriages in this country end in divorce.• One study in the early I970s indicated that only 16 percent of Catholic marriages ended in divorce.• Yet the liberal interpretation of divorce laws appears to have led to the alarming trends already observed.• Sometimes through abandonment; more often through non-marriage or divorce.• The cancer was diagnosed one and a half years after the divorce.• Wagenbach deferred ruling on the divorce papers until the state seeks to introduce them as evidence.• I've only seen my ex-wife once since the divorce.• The divorce rate has risen steadily since the 1950s.grounds ... for divorce• What are proper grounds for divorce?• This alone would have been sufficient grounds for divorce as far as my Pop was concerned.• Extension of the grounds for divorce took even longer to enact and was not achieved until 1937.• But what were the grounds for divorce?divorce between• We hope to avoid a complete divorce between research and practice.divorcedivorce2 ●●● S2 W3 verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]SSFSCL if someone divorces their husband or wife, or if two people divorce, they legally end their marriage → separate David’s parents divorced when he was six. My father threatened to divorce her.2 [transitive] formalSEPARATE to separate two ideas, subjects etc completelydivorce something from something It is difficult to divorce sport from politics.3 [transitive] to stop being involved in an activity, organization, situation etcdivorce yourself from something Our society has divorced itself from religion.THESAURUSdivorce to legally end your marriageAfter seven years, they decided to divorce.She divorced him six months after they were married.separate to start to live apart from your husband or wife because of problems in your marriageThey argued all the time and in the end agreed to separate.She separated from her husband and moved to a flat in London.split up/break up to end a marriage or a romantic relationshipWhen Andy was nine, his parents split up.He's just broken up with his girlfriend.leave somebody to stop living with your husband, wife, or partner, often because you are having a relationship with someone elseHer husband left her for a younger woman after 27 years of marriage.Dan's left me. GRAMMAR: Reciprocal verbsDivorce is a reciprocal verb. This type of verb is used when saying that two or more people or things do something that involves both or all of them: Her mother and father divorced. You can also say: Her mother divorced her father.Her father divorced her mother. This suggests it was mainly the decision of one person to end the marriage.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
divorce• You see, she was four months pregnant when they divorced.• But when he was eight or nine, Margo and her husband divorced.• Griffiths too had been married and divorced.• The couple divorced after Lott went off to college.• We divorced after six years of marriage.• I think he may have wanted to divorce her, but it never got to that point.• Maybe her husband, who had divorced her?• She's afraid of what her husband might do if she tries to divorce him.• He kept promising her that he would divorce his wife, but he never actually did it.• Finally, after years of unhappy marriage, Eva divorced Stanley.• I always say though, that you know, you divorce them.• Petra's parents divorced when she was about seven years old.divorce something from something• Carlin says he divorces philosophy from his religion.divorce yourself from something• You can't divorce yourself from the agenda, remit or personalities of the organisations and individuals with the money.• Man and algae sealed in the capsule divorced themselves from the wide net woven by the rest of life.• Internal prison reformers can not divorce themselves from these issues, however sensitive they might be.Origin divorce1 (1300-1400) French Latin divertere “to divert, leave one's husband” 