to the four winds
2
8.4
- idiom
- Literature
:
a los cuatro vientos
- When the storm hit, the documents were scattered to the four winds and lost forever.
- scatter to the four winds
Examples
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So they leave, the company closes down, and assets spread to the four winds.
Blog text (18) -
And for an introverted only child whose old friends have scattered to the four winds, it's vital.
Blog text (28) -
I want him turned into snow and scattered to the four winds.
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My family was now blown to the four winds.
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Her ashes were thrown to the four winds.
Fiction book (1991) -
His operatives had scattered to the four winds.
Fiction book (1999) -
"You see, when you've been away for a couple of years, all your friends have scattered to the four winds.
Fiction book (1995) -
Paper plates on the floor, medical books, papers, and journal articles strewn to the four winds.
Fiction book (2001) -
Should I see his body before it's burnt to ashes and flung to the four winds?
Fiction book (1990) -
He was mad; he knew it in that moment, utterly mad, his judgment shattered, his reason flown to the four winds.
Fiction book (1994)
Antonyms
How Scattered
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'dispersed/gone in every direction' can be directly inferred from combining 'four' (suggesting all cardinal directions) with 'winds' (forces that blow outward) and the preposition 'to' indicating direction, so a learner who knows the words can reconstruct the idea. This construction is also cross-linguistically common (many languages use 'four winds' or equivalent to mean 'all directions'), supporting immediate comprehension.
Etymology
To the four winds comes from a simple image: imagine throwing papers into the air so the wind blows them in all directions, the four winds. So when something goes to the four winds, it is 'scattered' or 'lost' and cannot be gathered again.