a ‧ part S2 W1 /əˈpɑːt $ -ɑːrt/ BrE AmE adverb , adjective
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: a part 'to the side' ]
1 . NOT CLOSE/TOUCHING if things are apart, they are not close to each other or touching each other
two miles/six feet etc apart
Place the two posts 6 metres apart.
They have offices in countries as far apart as India and Peru.
The police try to keep rival supporters apart at all matches.
A couple of men started fighting and we had to pull them apart.
Joel stood apart from the group, frowning.
2 . IN DIFFERENT PIECES if something comes apart, or you take it apart, it is separated into different pieces:
The whole thing comes apart so that you can clean it.
They took the engine apart to see what was wrong.
3 . SEPARATE if you keep things apart, you keep them separate from each other:
I try to keep my work and private life as far apart as possible.
4 . NOT AT SAME TIME if things are a particular time apart, they do not happen at the same time but have that much time between them
two days/three weeks/five years etc apart
Our birthdays are exactly a month apart.
5 . PEOPLE if people are apart, they are not together in the same place, or not having a relationship with each other:
The children have never been apart before.
My wife and I are living apart at the moment.
apart from
He’s never been apart from his mother.
6 . fall apart
a) if something falls apart, it breaks into different pieces:
It just fell apart in my hands!
b) if something is falling apart, it is in very bad condition:
He drives around in an old car that’s falling apart.
c) if something falls apart, it fails completely:
He lost his job and his marriage fell apart.
The country’s economy is in danger of falling apart.
7 . be torn apart if a marriage, family etc is torn apart, it can no longer continue because of serious difficulties:
The play portrays a good marriage torn apart by external forces.
8 . be worlds/poles apart if people, beliefs, or ideas are worlds or poles apart, they are completely different from each other:
I realized we were still worlds apart.
9 . grow/drift apart if people drift or grow apart, their relationship slowly becomes less close:
Lewis and his father drifted apart after he moved to New York.
10 . joking apart used to say that you want to say something seriously:
Joking apart, they did do quite a good job for us.
11 . somebody/something apart except for someone or something:
The car industry apart, most industries are now seeing an improvement in their economic performance.
12 . set somebody/something apart to make someone or something different from other people or things:
Her unusual lifestyle set her apart as a child.