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Webster 1913 Edition

Scatter

Scat′ter

,
Verb.
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.
And some are
scattered
all the floor about.
Chaucer.
Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains,
Their
scattered
cottages, and ample plains?
Dryden.
Teach the glad hours to
scatter
, as they fly,
Soft quiet, gentle love, and endless joy.
Prior.
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.
Scatter
and disperse the giddy Goths.
Shakespeare
3.
Hence, to frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow;
as, to
scatter
hopes, plans, or the like
.
Syn. – To disperse; dissipate; spread; strew.

Scat′ter

,
Verb.
I.
To be dispersed or dissipated; to disperse or separate;
as, clouds
scatter
after a storm
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Scatter

SCAT'TER

,
Verb.
T.
[L. scateo, discutio; Gr. to scatter, to discuss. This word may be formed on the root of discutio. The primary sense is to drive or throw.]
1.
To disperse; to dissipate; to separate or remove things to a distance from each other.
From thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Gen. 11.
I will scatter you among the heathen. Lev. 26.
2.
To throw loosely about; to sprinkle; as, to scatter seed in sowing.
Teach the glad hours to scatter, as they fly, soft quiet, gentle love and endless joy.
3.
To spread or set thinly.
Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains, their scatter'd cottages, and ample plains.

SCAT'TER

, v.i.
1.
To be dispersed or dissipated. The clouds scatter after a storm.
2.
To be liberal to the poor; to be charitable. Prov. 11.

Definition 2024

scatter

scatter

English

Verb

scatter ‎(third-person singular simple present scatters, present participle scattering, simple past and past participle scattered)

  1. (ergative) To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.
    the police scattered the crowds
    the crowd scattered
    • Shakespeare
      Scatter and disperse the giddy Goths.
  2. (transitive) To distribute loosely as by sprinkling.
    Her ashes were scattered at the top of a waterfall.
    • Dryden
      Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains, / Their scattered cottages, and ample plains?
  3. (transitive, physics) To deflect (radiation or particles).
  4. (intransitive) To occur or fall at widely spaced intervals.
  5. To frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow.
    to scatter hopes or plans

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology

From Middle English scateren, skateren, (also schateren, see shatter), from Old English sceaterian, probably from a dialect of Old Norse. Possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *skēi-t-. Compare Middle Dutch scheteren ‎(“to scatter”), Low German schateren, Dutch schateren ‎(“to burst out laughing”); and is apparently remotely akin to Ancient Greek σκεδάννυμι ‎(skedánnumi, “scatter, disperse”), [Skeat].

Pronunciation

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