apartar
verbo transitivo
1 (alejar)
aparta las piezas blancas de las negras separate the white pieces from the black ones; aparta la sartén del fuego take the pan off the heat; lograron apartar la discusión de ese punto they managed to turn the discussion away from that point; no podía apartar mi pensamiento de ella I couldn't get her out of my head
apartar la mirada/los ojos de algo to look away from sth; avert one's gaze/one's eyes from sth (literario)
apartó la mirada de la larga fila de casas she looked away from o (literario) averted her gaze from the long row of houses
no aparta los ojos de la comida he can't keep his eyes off the food
2 (quitar de en medio)
tuvo que apartar los papeles de la mesa para colocar allí sus libros he had to push aside the papers on the table to place his books there; apartó el micrófono a un lado she put the microphone aside o to one side; apartó la cortina y miró a la calle he drew o pulled back the curtain and looked out into the street; le apartó los cabellos de la frente she brushed her hair off her forehead
avanzaban apartando la maleza they made their way through the undergrowth, pushing o brushing it aside as they went
3 [+persona] (de lugar)
lo apartó un poco para hacerle algunas preguntas she took him to one side to ask him a few questions; los guardaespaldas apartaban a las fans the bodyguards pushed the fans aside o away
aparta al niño de la ventana move the child away from the window
(de otra persona) to separate; to drift apart si no los apartamos se matarán if we don't separate them they'll kill each other; el tiempo los ha ido apartando they have grown o drifted apart with time
(de actividad, puesto) to remove el ministro lo apartó de su puesto the minister removed him from his post; su enfermedad la apartó de la política activa her illness kept her away from playing an active role in politics
si yo fuera el entrenador, lo apartaría del equipo if I was the coach I would remove him from the team
lo apartaron de su intención de vender la casa they dissuaded him from selling the house
4 (reservar) to put aside; set aside
si le interesa este vestido se lo puedo apartar if you like this dress I can put o set it aside for you
se apartan muebles a deposit secures any piece of furniture
hemos apartado un poco de comida para él we've put o set aside a little food for him; picar las verduras y apartarlas a un lado chop the vegetables and put them to one side
verbo pronominal
apartarse1 (quitarse de en medio) to move out of the way
¿puedes apartarte un poco? can you move out of the way a bit?; se apartó a tiempo para evitar el puñetazo he moved aside o moved out of the way to avoid the punch; se apartaron para dejarla pasar they moved aside to let her through; ¡apártense! ¡que está herido! out of the way o stand clear! he's wounded!
se apartó unos pasos she moved o walked away a few paces
apartarse de [+persona, lugar, teoría] to move away from; [+camino, ruta] to stray from; wander off; [+actividad, creencia] to abandon
nos apartamos unos metros del vehículo we moved a few metres away from the vehicle; apártate del fuego get o move away from the fire
nunca se aparta de mi lado she never leaves my side; nunca se apartó de esta regla he never strayed from this rule; se apartó de la política she left o abandoned politics
no se aparta del teléfono por si suena she's always sitting by the phone in case it rings; consiguió apartarse de la bebida he managed to give up drinking
¡apártate de mi vista! get out of my sight!
apartarse del buen camino to go off the straight and narrow
2 (distanciarse) [+dos personas] to part; separate; [+dos objetos] to become separated
con el tiempo se han ido apartando they have drifted o grown apart with time
las cifras se apartan de las predicciones the figures are far off the predictions
esta novela se aparta del estilo del resto de su obra this novel is a far cry from the style of the rest of his work; el libro se aparta del realismo sentimentalista the book diverges o strays from sentimentalist realism
