scatter
from
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006)
scatter
n 1: a haphazard distribution in all directions [syn: {scatter},
{spread}]
2: the act of scattering [syn: {scatter}, {scattering},
{strewing}]
v 1: to cause to separate and go in different directions; "She
waved her hand and scattered the crowds" [syn: {disperse},
{dissipate}, {dispel}, {break up}, {scatter}]
2: move away from each other; "The crowds dispersed"; "The
children scattered in all directions when the teacher
approached"; [syn: {disperse}, {dissipate}, {scatter},
{spread out}]
3: distribute loosely; "He scattered gun powder under the wagon"
[syn: {scatter}, {sprinkle}, {dot}, {dust}, {disperse}]
4: sow by scattering; "scatter seeds"
5: cause to separate; "break up kidney stones"; "disperse
particles" [syn: {break up}, {disperse}, {scatter}]
6: strew or distribute over an area; "He spread fertilizer over
the lawn"; "scatter cards across the table" [syn: {spread},
{scatter}, {spread out}]
from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Scatter \Scat"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scattered}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Scattering}.] [OE. scateren. See {Shatter}.]
1. To strew about; to sprinkle around; to throw down loosely;
to deposit or place here and there, esp. in an open or
sparse order.
[1913 Webster]
And some are scattered all the floor about.
--Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains,
Their scattered cottages, and ample plains?
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
Teach the glad hours to scatter, as they fly,
Soft quiet, gentle love, and endless joy. --Prior.
[1913 Webster]
2. To cause to separate in different directions; to reduce
from a close or compact to a loose or broken order; to
dissipate; to disperse.
[1913 Webster]
Scatter and disperse the giddy Goths. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Hence, to frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow; as, to
scatter hopes, plans, or the like.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: To disperse; dissipate; spread; strew.
[1913 Webster]
from
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
161 Moby Thesaurus words for "scatter":
atomize, bend, besprinkle, bestrew, bias, blow, break into pieces,
break to pieces, break up, broadcast, cast, circulate, circumfuse,
clutter, confound, crash, crook, crunch, crush, curve,
cut to pieces, deactivate, deal out, debrief, deflect, deflection,
deflexure, demob, demobilize, demolish, derange, detach, deviate,
diffract, diffraction, diffuse, diffusion, disarrange, disarray,
disband, discard, discharge, discomfit, dishevel, disintegrate,
disjoin, dislocate, dismiss, disorder, disorganize, dispel,
dispense, disperse, dispersion, dispread, disrupt, disseminate,
dissipate, dissolve, distort, distortion, distribute, diverge,
divert, divide, dogleg, ease, ease off, emanate, fan out, fission,
flection, flexure, fragment, free, gamble away, go off,
go separate ways, go through, grind, hairpin, hang the expense,
issue, lavish, let go, let up, litter, loose, loosen,
make mincemeat of, mess, mess up, mince, misarrange, muss, muss up,
muster out, overscatter, oversow, overspread, panic, part,
part company, propagate, publish, pull, pulverize, put to flight,
put to rout, radiate, ray, refract, refraction, relax, release,
retail, rout, ruffle, rumple, run through, seize the day, separate,
sever, shatter, shed, shiver, shower, skew, skewness, slack,
slack off, slacken, slather, smash, smash up, sow, sow broadcast,
splay, splinter, split up, spread, spread out, sprinkle, squander,
squash, squish, stampede, straw, strew, throw away,
throw money around, torsion, tousle, turn, twist, unglue, unleash,
unstick, utter, warp, zigzag
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