- 1to separate someone or something physically or socially from other people or things isolate somebody/yourself/something Patients with the disease should be isolated. isolate somebody/yourself/something from somebody/something He was immediately isolated from the other prisoners. This decision will isolate the country from the rest of Europe.
- 2isolate something (from something) to separate a part of a situation, problem, idea, etc. so that you can see what it is and deal with it separately It is possible to isolate a number of factors that contributed to her downfall.
- 3isolate something (from something) (technology) to separate a single substance, cell, etc. from others so that you can study it Researchers are still trying to isolate the gene that causes this abnormality.
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NAmE//ˈaɪsəˌleɪt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they isolate he / she / it isolates
past simple isolated
-ing form isolating
Check pronunciation: isolate