Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

divide and conquer

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.61 in modern English

Syllables: di-vide and -con-quer
IPA

33

Scrabble Score

16

Letters

4

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

proverb

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

verb

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.

noun

A strategy for achieving political or military control.

Uncountable

noun

An algorithm design technique that solves a problem by splitting it recursively into smaller problems until all of the remaining problems are trivial.

Uncountable

noun

A phacoemulsification technique in which the nucleus is grooved and divided into halves.

Uncountable

Example Sentences

"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."
"The quicksort algorithm is an example of divide and conquer."

Etymology

Calque of Latin dīvide et imperā.

Usage

Uncountable

Inflected Forms

divides and conquers (present, singular) dividing and conquering (participle, present) divided and conquered (participle, past) divided and conquered (past)

Frequently Paired Words

stop and chop

Synonyms

divide and rule

Questions

What does divide and conquer mean?: In order to rule securely, do not allow alliances between your enemies.
Where does divide and conquer come from?: Calque of Latin dīvide et imperā.

How to pronounce divide and conquer

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