Link Centre Dictionary

disperse

dis·perse

UK/dɪˈspɜːs/ US/dɪˈspɝs/ fairly common

verb

1.

distribute loosely

  • “He scattered gun powder under the wagon”
Synonyms
2.

to cause to separate and go in different directions

  • “She waved her hand and scattered the crowds”
Synonyms
3.

move away from each other

  • “The crowds dispersed”
  • “The children scattered in all directions when the teacher approached”
Synonyms
4.

cause to separate

  • “break up kidney stones”
  • “disperse particles”
Synonyms
5.

cause to become widely known

  • “spread information”
  • “circulate a rumor”
  • “broadcast the news”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle French disperser, from Latin dispersus, past participle of dispergō (“to scatter abroad, disperse”), from dis- (“apart”) + spargō (“to scatter”); see sparse.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

Related verbs

Causes

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.