Bird and man going different ways (9)
I believe the answer is:
divergent
'going different ways' is the definition.
Both the definition and answer are adjectives. Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?
'bird and man' is the wordplay.
'bird' becomes 'diver' (diver is a kind of bird).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'man' becomes 'gent' (gent is a kind of man).
'diver'+'gent'='DIVERGENT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for divergent that I've seen before include "Moving apart in different directions" , "showing disagreement" , "Going in differing directions" , "different from the others?" , "(Of lines) moving apart" .)