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ASUNDER
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Widely separated especially in space
Example:
as wide asunder as pole from pole
Classified under:
Similar:
separate (independent; not united or joint)
II. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Into parts or pieces
Example:
torn asunder
Synonyms:
apart; asunder
Classified under:
Context examples:
With more care for the safety of her new gown than for the comfort of her protegee, Mrs. Allen made her way through the throng of men by the door, as swiftly as the necessary caution would allow; Catherine, however, kept close at her side, and linked her arm too firmly within her friend's to be torn asunder by any common effort of a struggling assembly.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
Then he felt torn asunder by a burst of flame hot through his being, and as he fell he knew the sharp pangs of life as it wrenches at the flesh to be free.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
It was contrary to every doctrine of hers that difference of fortune should keep any couple asunder who were attracted by resemblance of disposition; and that Elinor's merit should not be acknowledged by every one who knew her, was to her comprehension impossible.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
That beck itself was then a torrent, turbid and curbless: it tore asunder the wood, and sent a raving sound through the air, often thickened with wild rain or whirling sleet; and for the forest on its banks, that showed only ranks of skeletons.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
They plodded along together, the woodman and Alleyne, with little talk on either side, for their thoughts were as far asunder as the poles.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
We were very much together, I need not say; but occasionally we were asunder for some hours at a time.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Roderigo rent his chains asunder manfully, and Hugo died in agonies of remorse and arsenic, with a wild, "Ha! Ha!"
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
They have a kind of tree, which at forty years old loosens in the root, and falls with the first storm: it grows very straight, and being pointed like stakes with a sharp stone (for the Houyhnhnms know not the use of iron), they stick them erect in the ground, about ten inches asunder, and then weave in oat straw, or sometimes wattles, between them.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
These were very cheering thoughts; and the sight of a great deal of snow on the ground did her further service, for any thing was welcome that might justify their all three being quite asunder at present.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
She might not wonder, but she must sigh that her father should feel no degradation in his change, should see nothing to regret in the duties and dignity of the resident landholder, should find so much to be vain of in the littlenesses of a town; and she must sigh, and smile, and wonder too, as Elizabeth threw open the folding-doors and walked with exultation from one drawing-room to the other, boasting of their space; at the possibility of that woman, who had been mistress of Kellynch Hall, finding extent to be proud of between two walls, perhaps thirty feet asunder.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
