sever

Verb

Synonyms: break up discerp lop

WordNet 3.0

Verb (2)

set or keep apart“sever a relationship”Synonyms: break up
cut off from a whole“His head was severed from his body”“The soul discerped from the body”Synonyms: discerp lop

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Sever \Sev"er\, v. i.

1.To suffer disjunction; to be parted, or rent asunder; to be separated; to part; to separate. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

2.To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish. [1913 Webster]

The Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt.— Ex. ix. 4.[1913 Webster]

They claimed the right of severing in their challenge.— Macaulay.[1913 Webster]

Sever \Sev"er\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Severed; p. pr. & vb. n. Severing.] [OF. sevrer, severer, to separate, F. sevrer to wean, fr. L. separare. See Separate, and cf. Several.]

1.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. [1913 Webster]

The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.— Matt. xiii. 49.[1913 Webster]

2.To cut or break open or apart; to divide into parts; to cut through; to disjoin; as, to sever the arm or leg. [1913 Webster]

Our state can not be severed; we are one.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

3.To keep distinct or apart; to except; to exempt. [1913 Webster]

I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there.— Ex. viii. 22.[1913 Webster]

4.(Law) To disunite; to disconnect; to terminate; as, to sever an estate in joint tenancy. --Blackstone. [1913 Webster]