Scatter

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ætÉ™(r)

Origin

From Middle English scateren, skateren, (also schateren, see shatter), from Old English sceaterian, probably from a dialect of Old Norse. Compare Middle Dutch scheteren ("to scatter"), Low German schateren, Dutch schateren ("to burst out laughing").

Full definition of scatter

Verb

1. (ergative) To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.the police scattered the crowdsthe crowd scattered
• ShakespeareScatter and disperse the giddy Goths.
2. (transitive) To distribute loosely as by sprinkling.Her ashes were scattered at the top of a waterfall.
• DrydenWhy 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

• scatterbrain
• scatterplot
• scattershot