to scatter
86
2.8
- verb
- /ˈskætər/
- War and human rights violations are already scattering millions across the world in search of safety.
- scatter light
- scatter widely
- scatter randomly
Loading YouTube…
Watch on YouTubeHumankind has has scattered itself among the stars.
- Humankind has has scattered itself among the stars.
- A police cruiser scattering rose petals.
- Even earlier it was hot enough that the photons would scatter off each other and produce protons and antiprotons.
- An image scatters the shards congeal.
Examples
-
The children scattered their toys all over the living room, making it difficult to walk through.
-
Skulls, each holding a candle, are scattered about on the stairs and the furniture.
Fiction book (1991) -
Must be a hundred of them scattered across the state just like this.
-
Their hate literature was scattered everywhere.
-
The lines of the poem are scattered on the page in what seems a random manner.
Academic text (1999) -
Nobody was sitting on the bench, but there was popcorn scattered around it and pigeons eating.
Fiction book (1990) -
We know the gold, the jewels, that's all been scattered at this point.
-
Now, intel estimates 5000 Yakubu troops... ...scattered throughout this sector.
-
The organization's membership embraces more than 100 widely scattered communities located in half a dozen major watersheds.
Academic text (1999) -
They burned his body on a giant pyre and then scattered his ashes over Cabrini-Green.
Synonyms
768
1.6
To put a thin layer over a surface
140
2.0
Give things to several people or places
106
1.1
To put small drops of liquid or tiny pieces on something
84
3.1
To arrange or unfold things so they cover a larger area
81
4.4
To cause people and things, like a crowd or fog, to spread over a wide area
37
4.1
To make liquid fall in small messy drops on a surface
36
3.0
To appear as small marks across an area, like stars in the sky
32
5.5
To spread out and reach many people or places
29
2.5
To cover something with a light layer of fine powder
9
5.0
To splash small drops onto a surface and make spots
4
6.3
To spread things loosely and messily across an area
2
7.2
To put things in different places among other things
1
5.6
To make drops of liquid hit many places, like clothes or a table
1
4.5
To scatter seeds widely over the ground
1
8.8
To cover with small drops or spots like mud and paint
1
8.9
To splash mud or water onto something and make it dirty
1
9.9
To scatter small drops or bits lightly over something
1
6.1
To cover a surface with small stones
1
9.9
To cover a surface by scattering things like papers or flowers
Antonyms
Compounds
How Wide
81
4.4
86
2.8
768
1.6
140
2.0
4
6.3
106
1.1
Surface Forms
Etymology
Scatter comes from an old word that meant 'to throw or spread about'. Think of tossing seeds with your hand so they fly in all directions; that image explains why scatter means to spread things over a wide area in a random way.