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Webster 1828 Edition

Noun.

[L., to pull.] The act of pulling or plucking away; a rending asunder.

And dire divulsions shook the changing world.

divulsion ‎(plural divulsions)

The act of separating by force, especially by dilation or pulling apart.
- 1837 Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History
  That sweet Federation was of last year; this sour Divulsion is the self-same substance, only older by the appointed days.

act of separating by force, especially by dilation or pulling apart