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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

divide and conquer en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Calque of Latin dīvide et imperā.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable) A strategy for achieving political or military control.
  2. (uncountable) An algorithm design technique that solves a problem by splitting it recursively into smaller problems until all of the remaining problems are trivial.
    • The quicksort algorithm is an example of divide and conquer.
  3. (uncountable) A phacoemulsification technique in which the nucleus is grooved and divided into halves.

Coordinates

stop and chop

divide and conquer en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

Calque of Latin dīvide et imperā.

Meanings

  1. To use a combination of political, military and economic strategies that aim to gain and maintain power by breaking up larger concentrations of power into chunks that individually have less power than the one implementing the strategy.
    • It added that it can't begin pay talks without permission from Transport Scotland, and then cited a TSSA union survey of ScotRail that suggested that most of its members were against strikes, instead preferring job security rather than a pay rise. This prompted the TSSA to accuse ScotRail of trying to divide and conquer. 2020 December 2, Philip Haigh, “A winter of discontent caused by threat of union action”, in Rail, page 62:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
divided and conquered Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
divided and conquered Tense=Past lexicographic
dividing and conquering Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
divides and conquers Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic

Synonyms

divide and rule

Translations (2)

pl dzielić i rządzić (Translations) · hu megoszt és uralkodik (Translations)

divide and conquer en · X

Pronunciation

Etymology

Calque of Latin dīvide et imperā.

Meanings

  1. In order to rule securely, do not allow alliances between your enemies.

Translations (5)

la divide et impera (in order to rule securely, do not allow alliances between your enemies) · fi hajota ja hallitse (in order to rule securely, do not allow alliances between your enemies) · hu oszd meg és uralkodj (in order to rule securely, do not allow alliances between your enemies) · pl dziel i rządź (in order to rule securely, do not allow alliances between your enemies) · de teile und herrsche (in order to rule securely, do not allow alliances between your enemies)