1. (v. t.) To separate, as one from another; to cut off from something; to divide; to part in any way, especially by violence, as by cutting, rending, etc.; as, to sever the head from the body.
2. (v. t.) To cut or break open or apart; to divide into parts; to cut through; to disjoin; as, to sever the arm or leg.
3. (v. t.) To keep distinct or apart; to except; to exempt.
4. (v. t.) To disunite; to disconnect; to terminate; as, to sever an estate in joint tenancy.
5. (v. i.) To suffer disjunction; to be parted, or rent asunder; to be separated; to part; to separate.
6. (v. i.) To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish.
Thesaurus Entries
abandon, amputate, analyze, anatomize, atomize, ax, bisect, bob, break off, break up, butcher, carve, cease, change, chop, chop logic, cleave, contradistinguish, cut, cut away, cut in two, cut off, demarcate, demark, desynonymize, detach, dichotomize, difference, differentiate, discern, disconnect, discontinue, discriminate, disequalize, disjoin, disjoint, dissect, dissever, dissolve, distinguish, disunite, diversify, divide, divorce, dock, draw the line, end, excise, extricate, fissure, gash, hack, halve, hew, incise, individualize, individuate, jigsaw, lance, make a distinction, mark, mark off, mark out, mark the interface, modify, pare, part, particularize, personalize, pick out, prune, refine a distinction, rend, rive, saw, scissor, screen, screen out, segregate, select, separate, set a limit, set apart, set off, severalize, sieve, sieve out, sift, sift out, slash, slice, slit, snip, sort, sort out, specialize, split, split hairs, stop, subdivide, subtilize, sunder, suspend, tear, terminate, vary, whittle, winnow
