scattering

scattering
    n 1: a small number (of something) dispersed haphazardly; "the
         first scatterings of green"; "a sprinkling of grey at his
         temples" [syn: {scattering}, {sprinkling}]
    2: the physical process in which particles are deflected
       haphazardly as a result of collisions
    3: a light shower that falls in some locations and not others
       nearby [syn: {scattering}, {sprinkle}, {sprinkling}]
    4: spreading widely or driving off [syn: {dispersion},
       {scattering}]
    5: the act of scattering [syn: {scatter}, {scattering},
       {strewing}]
    

Scattering \Scat"ter*ing\, a.
   Going or falling in various directions; not united or
   aggregated; divided among many; as, scattering votes.
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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.
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            And some are scattered all the floor about.
                                                  --Chaucer.
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            Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains,
            Their scattered cottages, and ample plains?
                                                  --Dryden.
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            Teach the glad hours to scatter, as they fly,
            Soft quiet, gentle love, and endless joy. --Prior.
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   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.
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            Scatter and disperse the giddy Goths. --Shak.
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   3. Hence, to frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow; as, to
      scatter hopes, plans, or the like.
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   Syn: To disperse; dissipate; spread; strew.
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Scattering \Scat"ter*ing\, n.
   Act of strewing about; something scattered. --South.
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89 Moby Thesaurus words for "scattering":
      a few, aloofness, anarchy, attenuation, attenuative, bit, breakup,
      broadcast, broadcasting, chaos, circumfusion, confusion, crack-up,
      diffraction, diffractional, diffractive, diffusion, diffusive,
      dilution, discontinuity, discreteness, disintegration, disjunction,
      dislocation, disorder, dispensation, dispersal, dispersion,
      dispersive, disruption, dissemination, disseminative, dissipation,
      dissipative, dissolution, distribution, distributive, divergence,
      emanation, entropy, evaporation, exfoliation, expansion, few,
      fragmentation, handful, hint, incoherence, inconsistency,
      limited number, nonadhesion, noncohesion, only a few, peppering,
      piddling few, piddling number, propagation, publication, radiance,
      radiation, radius, ray, revolution, scaling, scatterment,
      separateness, shattering, shotgun pattern, small number, smatter,
      smattering, soupcon, sowing, spatter, spattering, splay, spoke,
      spread, spreading, sprinkling, strewing, suggestion, too few,
      trickle, trifle, unadherence, unadhesiveness, untenacity,
      volatilization