segregate into (something or some place)

segregate into (something or some place)

1. To separate into one or more groups or sections isolated from some larger group. Instead of mingling and intermixing at the company picnic, everyone just segregated into little groups of people from their departments. The cells tend to segregate into separate groups following exposure to the radiation.

2. To separate one or more people or things into one or more groups or sections that are discrete or isolated from some larger group. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "segregate" and "into." The teacher segregated me into a group with the other three boys in the class. We'll need to segregate these data points into discrete groups in order to evaluate the effect of the experiment.

3. To separate one or more people or things into some place or thing that is removed or isolated from others within a group. In this usage, a noun or pronoun is used between "segregate" and "into." We need to be careful to segregate any produce showing signs of disease into their own storage containers, lest we risk cross-contaminating the rest of the harvest. The new king began segregating all people who had shown loyalty to the previous ruler into labor camps.

See also: segregate

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

segregate (someone, something, or an animal) into something

to isolate someone, an animal, or something into something or a special place. We segregated the infected people into a separate room. Let's segregate the white pigs into a different pen.

See also: segregate

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.