branch
/brɑ:ntʃ/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Noun:
- A part of a tree that grows out from the trunk or from a larger branch: A limb or division of a tree or shrub.
- A division or office of a large business or organization, operating locally: A separate but dependent part.
- A subdivision of a family, subject, or group: A category or area of specialization within a broader field.
- A natural subdivision of a river, road, or railway: A part that diverges from the main path.
Verb:
- To divide into one or more subdivisions: To separate into two or more parts that lead in different directions.
- To put forth branches; to spread or separate into branches: To grow or develop new offshoots or divisions.
Examples of Usage
Noun:
- The bird built its nest on a sturdy branch of the oak tree.
- The bank opened a new branch in the suburbs.
- Linguistics is a branch of the social sciences.
- We took the northern branch of the river.
Verb:
- The path branches here; the left fork leads to the lake.
- The company plans to branch into new markets next year.
Advanced Usage
"To branch out": To expand or diversify one's activities or interests.
- After years in finance, she decided to branch out and start her own design firm.
"Root and branch": Completely or thoroughly; affecting the whole of something.
- The organization needed root and branch reform.
Variants and Related Words
- Branching (adj/n): The act of dividing or the pattern formed by divisions.
- The branching pattern of the veins in the leaf.
- Branchless (adj): Having no branches.
- Branch office (n phrase): A local office of a larger company.
- Branch line (n phrase): A secondary railway line.
Synonyms
- Noun: Limb, bough, offshoot, division, subdivision, section, department, arm, affiliate.
- Verb: Divide, fork, bifurcate, diverge, ramify, split.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Branch off: To separate from the main part and go in a different direction.
- A small road branches off from the main highway just past the bridge.
- Branch out into: To begin doing something different from your usual activities.
- The restaurant is branching out into catering services.
Related Idioms
- Olive branch: A symbol of peace or an offer to end a dispute.
- He offered an olive branch to his rival after their long argument.
- Grasp at every branch (or straw): To try every possible method, even unlikely ones, to solve a problem.
- Desperate for a solution, she was grasping at every branch.
Noun
- any projection that is thought to resemble a human arm
- the arm of the record player
- an arm of the sea
- a branch of the sewer
- a stream or river connected to a larger one
- a natural consequence of development
- a part of a forked or branching shape
- he broke off one of the branches
- a division of a stem, or secondary stem arising from the main stem of a plant
- a division of some larger or more complex organization
- a branch of Congress
- botany is a branch of biology
- the Germanic branch of Indo-European languages
Verb
- divide into two or more branches so as to form a fork
- The road forks
- grow and send out branches or branch-like structures
- these plants ramify early and get to be very large