Link Centre Dictionary

scatter

scat·ter

UK/ˈskætə/ US/ˈskætɚ/ fairly common slang us
verb (6) noun (2)

verb

1.

to cause to separate and go in different directions

  • “She waved her hand and scattered the crowds”
Synonyms
2.

move away from each other

  • “The crowds dispersed”
  • “The children scattered in all directions when the teacher approached”
Synonyms
3.

distribute loosely

  • “He scattered gun powder under the wagon”
Synonyms
4.

sow by scattering

  • “scatter seeds”
5.

cause to separate

  • “break up kidney stones”
  • “disperse particles”
Synonyms
6.

strew or distribute over an area

  • “He spread fertilizer over the lawn”
  • “scatter cards across the table”
Synonyms

noun

1.

a haphazard distribution in all directions

Synonyms
2.

Origin

From Middle English scateren, skateren, also schateren, * probably a variant of shatter, which is imitative; * or from Old English *sceaterian, probably akin to a dialect of Old Norse, possibly ultimately related to Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split, shatter”). Compare Middle Dutch scheteren (“to scatter”), Low German schateren, Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”); and is apparently remotely akin to Ancient Greek σκεδάννυμι (skedánnumi, “scatter, disperse”). and Tocharian B kät- (“to scatter, sow seeds”). Doublet of shatter.

Phrases

  • scatter band
  • scatter buffet
  • scatter cushion
  • scatter diagram
  • scatter hoarding
  • scatter point
  • scatter rug
  • scatter site

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Narrower terms

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.