dispersal

[ dih-spur-suhl ]

noun

1. dispersion ( def 1 ).

dispersal

/ dɪˈspɜːsəl /

noun

1. the act of dispersing or the condition of being dispersed
2. the spread of animals, plants, or seeds to new areas

Other Words From

• nondis·persal noun
• redis·persal noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of dispersal¹

First recorded in 1815–25; disperse + -al ²

Example Sentences

Statements of the UK population growing annually by a total equal to the population of a city such Oxford or Nottingham – as popularised by Migration Watch and employed by politicians including Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage – don’t give a true impression of the dispersal of those arrivals, nor of how successfully or poorly they are absorbed into existing demand for public services.

From BBC

Crowds of people took to the streets to revel in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series-clinching Game 5 victory over the New York Yankees from downtown Los Angeles to Echo Park, forcing the Los Angeles Police Department to issue several dispersal orders after some businesses were looted and a Metro bus was vandalized and then set ablaze.

From Los Angeles Times

Later, an unidentified group tore apart the Sukkah, police issued a dispersal order, and activists voluntarily left the site in the late evening.

From Los Angeles Times

The former civil servant says she fears that dispersal of these departments across NHS Lothian will cause delays and complications for patients.

From BBC

Liverpool police put in place a dispersal order starting at 16:00 on Saturday following "incidents of disorder".

From BBC

Related Words

• diffusion
• dispersion
• dissemination
• scattering