to scatter
110
2.7
- verb
- /ˈskætər/
:
dispersar
- Cockroaches scattered every time I turned on the kitchen light.
- lie scattered
And then Jerusalem, Ramallah, Namdas, the family was scattered as a result of this.
- And then Jerusalem, Ramallah, Namdas, the family was scattered as a result of this.
- The Israeli scattered their jets and shot down all but seven.
- You let them scatter first, and then you can, like, do your thing.
- Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.
- And one of my dearest friends, his, his, all of the children in his family scattered.
Examples
-
Those guys get off this rig, they scatter.
-
So all of you scatter in all directions, okay?
-
And as time goes on, they scatter further, right?
-
You let them scatter first, and then you can, like, do your thing.
-
I want you all to break up and scatter.
-
Every single person you know scatters in different directions.
-
Then, as the chimps begin climbing nearby trees, they scatter as each pursues a different target.
Academic text (1991) -
In Saskatchewan, which has a surface area similar to Texas, small Francophone communities are scattered across the province.
Academic text (2011) -
I feel like no Easter is complete without fluffy chicks, so I've scattered them around the table.
-
As soon as the loud noise occurred, the birds scattered in all directions.
Synonyms
152
3.4
Make a group of people leave or spread out
104
4.4
To cause people and things, like a crowd or fog, to spread over a wide area
89
2.8
To move apart and cover a wider area
48
6.8
To make something spread out and disappear, for example fog or tension
40
5.5
To spread out and reach many people or places
4
6.3
To spread things loosely and messily across an area
Antonyms
Compounds
How Fast
26
4.9
110
2.7
- Informal
35
7.0
104
4.4
87
4.0
152
3.4
Surface Forms
Etymology
Scatter originally carried the idea 'to separate or send away'. Imagine a sudden noise that makes a crowd run off in different directions; that is why scatter can mean 'to make people or animals move apart quickly'.