Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

scatter

1. scat.ter \'skat-*r\ \-*r-*r\ \'skat-*-rin-le-\ vb [ME scateren] archaic  
   1: to fling away heedlessly : SQUANDER  2a: to cause to separate widely  
   2b: to cause to vanish  3: to distribute irregularly  4: to sow broadcast : 
   STREW  5a: to reflect irregularly and diffusely  5b: to diffuse or disperse 
   (a beam of radiation)  6: to divide into ineffectual small portions  1: to 
   separate and go in various directions : DISPERSE  2: to occur or fall 
   irregularly or at random  cause to separate or break up. SCATTER implies a 
   force that drives parts or units irregularly in many directions; DISPERSE 
   implies a wider separation and a complete breaking up of a mass or group; 
   DISSIPATE stresses complete disintegration or dissolution and final 
   disappearance; DISPEL stresses a driving away or getting rid of as if by 
   scattering - scat.ter.er n SYN syn SCATTER, DISPERSE, DISSIPATE, DISPEL 
   mean to 
2. scatter n 1: the act of scattering  2: a small supply or number 
   irregularly distributed or strewn about  3: the state or extent of being 
   scattered; specif : DISPERSIONM