adjective
not joined, connected, or combined :placed or kept apart
different from something else
go your separate ways
to end a relationship with someone
to go in different directions after being together
under separate cover
verb
-rates; -rated; -rating
[+ obj] :to cause (two or more people or things) to stop being together, joined, or connected :to make (people or things) separate
[+ obj] :to be between (two things or people)
[no obj] :to stop being together, joined, or connected :to become separate
[no obj] :to stop living with a husband, wife, or partner
[+ obj] :to see or describe the differences between (two things)
[+ obj] :to be the quality that makes (people or things) different :differentiate
[+ obj] - used to describe how much difference there is in the scores or positions of people or teams in a race, game, etc.
separate off
[phrasal verb]
separate (someone or something) off or separate off (someone or something) :to cause (someone or something) to be separate from other people or things
separate out
[phrasal verb]
separate out (someone or something) or separate (someone or something) out :to remove (someone or something) from a group
separate the men from the boys
to show which people are really strong, brave, etc., and which are not
separate the sheep from the goats
or separate the wheat from the chaff
chiefly Brit :to judge which people or things in a group are bad and which ones are good