Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Shatter
Shat′ter
,Verb.
 T.
 [
imp. & p. p. 
Shattered
; p. pr. & vb. n. 
Shattering
.] [OE. 
schateren
, scateren
, to scatter, to dash, AS. scateran
; cf. D. schateren 
to crack, to make a great noise, OD. schetteren 
to scatter, to burst, to crack. Cf. Scatter
.] 1. 
To break at once into many pieces; to dash, burst, or part violently into fragments; to rend into splinters; 
as, an explosion 
 shatters 
a rock or a bomb; too much steam shatters 
a boiler; an oak is shattered 
by lightning.A monarchy was 
shattered 
to pieces, and divided amongst revolted subjects. Locke.
2. 
To disorder; to derange; to render unsound; 
as, to be 
. shattered 
in intellect; his constitution was shattered
; his hopes were shattered
A man of a loose, volatile, and 
shattered 
humor. Norris.
3. 
To scatter about. 
[Obs.] 
Shatter 
your leaves before the mellowing year. Milton.
Shat′ter
,Verb.
 I.
 To be broken into fragments; to fall or crumble to pieces by any force applied. 
Some fragile bodies break but where the force is; some 
 shatter 
and fly in many places. Bacon.
Shat′ter
,Noun.
 A fragment of anything shattered; – used chiefly or soley in the phrase into shatters; 
as, to break a glass into 
. shatters
Swift.
 Webster 1828 Edition
Shatter
SHAT'TER
, v.t.           1. To braek at once into many pieces; to dash, burst, rend or part by violence into fragments; as, explosion shatters a rock or bomb; lightning shatters the sturdy oak; steam shatters a boiler; a monarchy is shattered by revolt.
           2. To rend; to crack; to split; to rive into splinters.
           3. To dissapate; to make incapable of close and continued application; as a man of shattered humor.
           4. To disorder; to derange; to render delirious; as, to shatter teh brain, the man seems to be shattered in his intellect.
SHAT'TER
,Verb.
I.
                     Some shatter and fly in many places. Bacon.
Definition 2025
shatter
shatter
English
Verb

A lightglobe shatters after it is shot with a pistol
shatter (third-person singular simple present shatters, present participle shattering, simple past and past participle shattered)
-  (transitive) to violently break something into pieces.
- The miners used dynamite to shatter rocks.
- a high-pitched voice that could shatter glass
- The old oak tree has been shattered by lightning.
 
- (transitive) to destroy or disable something.
- (intransitive) to smash, or break into tiny pieces.
-  (transitive) to dispirit or emotionally defeat
- to be shattered in intellect; to have shattered hopes, or a shattered constitution
 -  1984 Martyn Burke, The commissar's report, p36
- Your death will shatter him. Which is what I want. Actually, I would prefer to kill him.
 
-  1992 Rose Gradym "Elvis Cures Teen's Brain Cancer!" Weekly World News, Vol. 13, No. 38 (23 June, 1992), p41
- A CAT scan revealed she had an inoperable brain tumor. The news shattered Michele's mother.
 
-  2006 A. W. Maldonado, Luis Muñoz Marín: Puerto Rico's democratic revolution, p163
- The marriage, of course, was long broken but Munoz knew that asking her for a divorce would shatter her.
 
-  Norris
- a man of a loose, volatile, and shattered humour
 
 
-  (obsolete) To scatter about.
-  Milton
- Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.
 
 
-  Milton
Translations
to violently break something into pieces
| 
 | 
to smash, or break into tiny pieces
| 
 | 
Noun
shatter (plural shatters)
-  (archaic) A fragment of anything shattered.
- to break a glass into shatters
- (Can we find and add a quotation of Jonathan Swift to this entry?)