isolatei·so·late /ˈaɪsəleɪt/ verb [transitiveT]1to prevent a country or company from getting support or business from other countries or companies, so that it becomes weakerEfforts to isolate North Korea financially through targeted measures appeared to be working.
2to separate something so that it can be dealt with by itself, rather than affecting the whole of a business, market etcAfter isolating the problem, investigate it as quickly as possible and resolve it.
—isolation noun [uncountableU]Inflation cannot be addressed in isolation from other economic problems.
—isolated adjectiveadjThe regime has become increasingly isolated.