v., -tered, -ter·ing, -ters. v.tr.
- To cause to separate and go in different directions.
- To distribute loosely by or as if by sprinkling; strew: scattering confetti from the upper windows.
- Physics. To deflect (radiation or particles).
- To separate and go in different directions; disperse.
- To occur or fall at widely spaced intervals.
- The act of scattering or the condition of being scattered.
- Something scattered.
[Middle English scateren, perhaps from northern dialectal alteration of Old English *sceaterian.]
scatterer scat'ter·er n.SYNONYMS scatter, disperse, dissipate, dispel. These verbs mean to cause a mass or aggregate to separate and go in different directions. Scatter refers to loose or haphazard distribution of components: “the scattered driftwood, bleached and dry” (Celia Laighton Thaxter). Disperse implies the complete breaking up of the mass or aggregate: “only a few industrious Scots perhaps, who indeed are dispersed over the face of the whole earth” (George Chapman). Dissipate suggests a reduction to nothing: “The main of life is composed … of meteorous pleasures which dance before us and are dissipated“ (Samuel Johnson). Dispel suggests driving away or off by or as if by scattering: “But he … with high words … gently raised/Their fainting courage, and dispelled their fears” (John Milton).
