bisect
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cut or divide into two equal or nearly equal parts.
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Geometry. to cut or divide into two equal parts.
to bisect an angle.
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to intersect or cross.
the spot where the railroad tracks bisect the highway.
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
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(tr) maths to divide into two equal parts
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to cut or split into two
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bisectsimple
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bisectssimple
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have bisectedperfect
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has bisectedperfect
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am bisectingprogressive
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are bisectingprogressive
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is bisectingprogressive
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have been bisectingperfect progressive
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has been bisectingperfect progressive
Past
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bisectedsimple
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had bisectedperfect
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was bisectingprogressive
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were bisectingprogressive
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had been bisectingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bisect
1640–50; bi- 1 + -sect < Latin sectus, past participle of secāre to cut, sever; see section
Explanation
When you cut something in half or in two pieces, you bisect it. You can bisect a cupcake so that you and a friend get equal pieces. In Latin, bi means "two" and secare means "to cut." That's why the verb bisect means "divide into two equal pieces." You might bisect your garden, planting half with vegetables and half with flowers, or tape a line on your bedroom floor to bisect the space into two sides — yours and your horrible sister's. In geometry, the word bisect means the same thing, to split something into equal halves.
Vocabulary lists containing bisect
It Takes Two: Bi
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"A Sound of Thunder" by Ray Bradbury
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The ACT Math Test: Geometry, List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The loss of New York and advance of British troops from Canada threatened to bisect the colonies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
The lions — living in the only range to bisect a major metropolitan area — could land on the state’s endangered species list, along with several other cut-off clans in the state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2024
When these acoels reproduce asexually, they first bisect themselves.
From Science Daily ● May 15, 2024
"For your safety, take this next opportunity to move south beyond Wadi Gaza," the military announced, referring to the wetlands that bisect the narrow, coastal territory.
From Reuters ● Nov. 7, 2023
According to the map this canal should bisect the Wellteco Canal, which will turn south and flow all the way to the ocean.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
Mr. Robb’s excellent maps expose their geological foundation: the limestone belt that bisects England from the upper right to the lower left.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
By the time it reaches Corona, it splits into two segments — the Chino fault, which heads toward Chino Hills; and the Whittier fault, which is near or bisects the L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025
H. dorsalis hails from the mountains of Northern Borneo and features a conspicuous dark stripe that begins atop its head and bisects its back before fading around mid-body.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 21, 2023
He admitted it was a "very lucky" finish to his round after his drive bounced out of the creek that bisects the 18th fairway.
From BBC ● Nov. 16, 2023
A bright blue cloth is crumpled on the floor, and a length of string bisects the room.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
“It’s right here,” glaciologist Alison Criscitiello says, pointing to a nearly invisible gray smudge behind the glass, on a 5-foot-long, 1,550-year-old bisected cylinder of ice.
From Slate ● May 8, 2026
An Instagram account with millions of views shows a woman in swimsuits and gymwear whose body is bisected by vitiligo so she is exactly half white and half brown.
From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026
For example, “Pinky could conclude only that the strength of the floor diaphragm where the trench headers bisected the slab was inadequate.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2025
Bringing out a bisected piece of a heart, Dr. Shumpei Mori displayed how its inner architecture could be captured on camera, threading a catheter through the organ as a co-worker snaked in an endoscope.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2024
They bought their markers and drove to the unnamed gravel road that ended in a stand of trees beside the Steerkiller River, which bisected Forrestville.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
Humanitarian workers have to carry out special co-ordination to cross the Israeli military zone bisecting the territory.
From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2025
The border wall begins at the Pacific Ocean, bisecting the half-acre Friendship Park.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2024
As leaders of Seattle’s ethnic-business communities, we remember the sweeping impacts of past infrastructure decisions, whether it was highways bisecting or leveling communities of color, or leaving neighborhoods under served and underdeveloped.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2024
Close inspection also shows a faint horizontal line bisecting each Milky Way star, which is caused by light bending around a support strut of the telescope’s secondary mirror.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 3, 2023
A prickly tuft of hair ran down the middle of his head, bisecting it.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.