isolatei‧so‧late /ˈaɪsəleɪt/ ●○○ AWL verb [transitive] 
Word Origin Examples
The town was isolated by the floods. The US has sought to isolate Cuba both economically and politically.isolate somebody from somebody Presley’s phenomenal early success isolated him from his friends.isolate somebody from something Newborn babies must be isolated from possible contamination.2if you isolate an idea, problem etc, you consider it separately from other things that are connected with itisolate something from something It is impossible to isolate political responsibility from moral responsibility.3technical to separate a substance, disease etc from other substances so that it can be studiedisolate something from something The hepatitis B virus has been isolated from breast milk.
Word OriginWORD ORIGINisolate
Verb TableOrigin:
1800-1900 isolatedVERB TABLE
isolate
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | isolate |
| he, she, it | isolates | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | isolated |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have isolated |
| he, she, it | has isolated | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had isolated |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will isolate |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have isolated |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am isolating |
| he, she, it | is isolating | |
| you, we, they | are isolating | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was isolating |
| you, we, they | were isolating | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been isolating |
| he, she, it | has been isolating | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been isolating |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be isolating |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been isolating |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- The six other patients were immediately isolated from the infected four.
- The U.S. has tried to isolate Cuba both economically and politically.
- Their goal is to surround and isolate the town.
- We've succeeded in isolating the gene that determines a person's weight.
- We used to routinely isolate people who had measles.
- They may reject you and isolate you because you are different from them and they would like to be like you.
- Yet it is often a hidden disability, which isolates both the people who suffer from it and their families.
Longman Language Activatorto separate people from each other, the rest of society etc► separate
Collocations to keep two or more people apart, especially so that they cannot cause any trouble together: · Teachers thought it best to separate Paul and Fred and put them in different classes.separate somebody from somebody: · Separating prisoners from each other is sometimes the only way of preventing riots.
► keep somebody apart to separate two or more people so that they cannot talk to or harm each other: · At the party it seemed only sensible to keep her ex-husband and her new boyfriend apart.keep sb apart from: · Sex offenders are often kept apart from other prisoners for their own safety.
► isolate to keep someone away from other people, especially because they are suffering from an infectious disease: · We used to routinely isolate people who had measles.isolate somebody from: · The six other patients were immediately isolated from the infected four.
► cut somebody off from to separate someone from the people they are usually with: · She realized that he was trying to cut her off from her friends.· It's easy to get cut off from your family when you first go overseas.
► segregate to separate one group of people from others, especially because of their race, sex, religion etc: · Schools should not segregate children with disabilities.· Faith-based schools would only segregate society further.be segregated from: · Male prisoners were strictly segregated from the females.
► segregation the practice of keeping people of different races apart and making them live, work, or study separately, especially because one race believes that members of the other race are not as good as they are: · Racial segregation in schools still exists in some southern states.· Civil rights protestors called for an end to all segregation.
► apartheid the former South African political and social system in which black and white races had to go to separate schools, live in separate areas etc as a way of keeping white people in their position of power: · Mandela was in prison for over 25 years for opposing apartheid in South Africa.· an anti-apartheid organization
► in quarantine separated from other people because you have or may have an infectious illness that they could catch if they were with you: · One of the crew caught smallpox, and soon they were all in quarantine.put somebody in quarantine: · All animals entering the UK used to have to be put in quarantine.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► a remote/isolated area
Word family (=a long way from towns and cities)· a remote area of northeast Afghanistan
► an isolated incident (=one that happens on its own, not together with others)· Luckily the attack turned out to be an isolated incident.
► isolated individuals (=one on their own, not in a group with others)· Society does not consist of isolated individuals.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► more· Although acquitted, Du Bois became more isolated during the 1950s, and was denied a passport until 1958.· Following her death, Park became even more isolated, withdrawn, and remote.· Jimmy Carter was not from that elite, but he was even more isolated.· Of the 20 percent who felt more isolated, most said they felt that way because they had less communication with co-workers.· Making decisions that were unpopular with their subordinates, the managers felt even more isolated.· Strategically, it left Pyongyang more vulnerable and more isolated than before.
NOUN► attempt· Mr Palomar's attempt to isolate the wave is a difficult and repeatedly unsuccessful one.· But all attempts to isolate and identify viruses from infected tissue proved fruitless.· But the attempt to isolate such cases from the majority of child abuse cases must always be made.· In the case of acute infectious diseases, attempts are made to isolate a single identifiable organism.
► community· Mr Straw said the fears of people in isolated rural communities could not be dismissed.· It is possible to isolate several features of community care.· Now the court comes to the people in poor, isolated communities-with the reassuring informality of a village meeting.
► gene· Once a mutation that causes an abnormality is observed, it becomes possible to try and identify and isolate the gene.· Once isolated, the mutant gene will be the second gene known to increase the risk for the brain disorder.· His team has isolated the gene switches, called promoters, from rubber plants that turn genes on exclusively in the latex.
► group· Well-equipped gyms will have a large selection of leg machines designed to isolate the various muscle groups.· In isolating such groups for surveillance and regulation, the profession was drawing on changes within medical discourse.
► rest· Then, effectively isolated from the rest, it would continue dividing.· Anapra is relatively isolated from the rest of Ciudad Juarez, perhaps an hour away by bus.· Meanwhile the kidnapping industry continued with a vengeance, effectively isolating Chechnya from the rest of the world.· It is too isolated from the rest of the curriculum.· We tend to isolate ourselves from the rest of the natural world and yet we are very much a part of it.· Still, no religious movement, pentecostalism included, is isolated from the rest of the culture.· Those inside are left to make do as best they can in a community isolated from the rest of the world.· Humans however, have learnt to isolate sugar from the rest of the plant.
► world· An entire childhood spent in darkness, isolated from the world, with no human contact except an occasional beating.· When I first discovered that little village, it was this isolated little world.
VERB► become· Although acquitted, Du Bois became more isolated during the 1950s, and was denied a passport until 1958.· Following her death, Park became even more isolated, withdrawn, and remote.
► feel· These factors can contribute to making you feel isolated.· Altoona receded quickly, and my parents must have felt isolated and deceived.· Of the 20 percent who felt more isolated, most said they felt that way because they had less communication with co-workers.· Therefore I feel isolated down here in the flatland prairie, and would like to know a little more about you.· There is no need for them to feel so isolated and miserable.· Making decisions that were unpopular with their subordinates, the managers felt even more isolated.· I felt less isolated in my position.
► remain· It has not remained isolated and unexplained or remote from the community.· The animal will remain isolated, though, because older and bigger rhinos likely would pick on the youngster, Blakeslee said.· The old growth remaining nearby occurs in isolated patches and is under constant threat.
► try· We can try to isolate sport-related output, sports-related income, or sports-related expenditure.· If that happened we could then try to purify and isolate the morphogen from the mixture - but we had no luck.· Once a mutation that causes an abnormality is observed, it becomes possible to try and identify and isolate the gene.· These explanations try to isolate clearly-defined elements of behaviour, and to account for them in terms of the simplest possible models of learning.· The work was geared towards trying to isolate the products of specific workshops or craftsmen.
WORD FAMILYnounisolationisolationismisolationistadjectiveisolatedisolationistverbisolate
1to separate one person, group, or thing from other people or things: The town was isolated by the floods. The US has sought to isolate Cuba both economically and politically.isolate somebody from somebody Presley’s phenomenal early success isolated him from his friends.isolate somebody from something Newborn babies must be isolated from possible contamination.2if you isolate an idea, problem etc, you consider it separately from other things that are connected with itisolate something from something It is impossible to isolate political responsibility from moral responsibility.3technical to separate a substance, disease etc from other substances so that it can be studiedisolate something from something The hepatitis B virus has been isolated from breast milk.