From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Sever \Sev"er\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Severed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Severing}.] [OF. sevrer, severer, to separate, F. sevrer to wean, fr. L. separare. See {Separate}, and cf. {Several}.]
1. To separate, as one from another; to cut off from something; to divide; to part in any way, especially by violence, as by cutting, rending, etc.; as, to sever the head from the body.
The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just. --Matt. xiii. 49.
2. To cut or break open or apart; to divide into parts; to cut through; to disjoin; as, to sever the arm or leg.
Our state can not be severed; we are one. --Milton.
3. To keep distinct or apart; to except; to exempt.
I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there. --Ex. viii. 22.
4. (Law) To disunite; to disconnect; to terminate; as, to sever an estate in joint tenancy. --Blackstone.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
adjective
1: detached by cutting; "cut flowers"; "a severed head"; "an old tale of Anne Bolyn walking the castle walls with her poor cut-off head under her arm" [syn: {cut off}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
20 Moby Thesaurus words for "severed": cleft, cloven, cracked, cut, in pieces, in shreds, lacerate, lacerated, mangled, mutilated, quartered, ragged, rent, riven, shredded, slit, splintered, split, tattered, torn
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Let's see what we can do if we put our heads together.
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