disperse

American  

[dih-spurs] / dɪˈspɜrs /

verb (used with object)

dispersed, dispersing

1. to drive or send off in various directions; scatter.

   to disperse a crowd.

   Antonyms:

   collect, combine

2. to spread widely; disseminate.

   to disperse knowledge.

   Synonyms:

   broadcast, sow

3. to dispel; cause to vanish.

   The wind dispersed the fog.

4. Physical Chemistry. to cause (particles) to separate uniformly throughout a solid, liquid, or gas.

5. Optics. to subject (light) to dispersion.

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verb (used without object)

dispersed, dispersing

1. to separate and move apart in different directions without order or regularity; become scattered.

   The crowd dispersed.

2. to be dispelled; be scattered out of sight; vanish.

   The smoke dispersed into the sky.

   Synonyms:

   evanesce, disappear

adjective

1. Physical Chemistry. noting the dispersed particles in a dispersion.

disperse British  

/ dɪˈspɜːsɪdlɪ, dɪˈspɜːs /

verb

1. to scatter; distribute over a wide area

2. to dissipate or cause to dissipate

3. to leave or cause to leave a gathering, often in a random manner

4. to separate or be separated by dispersion

5. (tr) to diffuse or spread (news, information, etc)

6. to separate (particles) throughout a solid, liquid, or gas, as in the formation of a suspension or colloid

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adjective

1. of or consisting of the particles in a colloid or suspension

   disperse phase

Related Words

See scatter.

Other Word Forms

• dispersedly adverb
• disperser noun
• dispersibility noun
• dispersible adjective
• predisperse verb (used with object)
• redisperse verb
• undispersed adjective
• undispersing adjective
• well-dispersed adjective

Etymology

Origin of disperse

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English dispersen, disparsen (from Middle French disperser, ) from Latin dispersus (past participle of dispergere ), equivalent to di- di- ² + -sper(g)- “scatter” (stem of -spergere, combining form of spargere “to scatter, strew”) + -sus past participle suffix

Example Sentences

If a serpent’s prey happens to have seeds in their cheeks, “they will disperse those seeds, acting as nature’s gardeners, pooping out the seeds in a little pile of fertilizer,” Taylor said.

From Los Angeles Times

“We were trying to focus more on the Indo-Pacific. And we already had a pretty resilient, dispersed posture across the region.”

From The Wall Street Journal

"If it's been dispersed to four different sites, then you're talking about a whole different" level of complexity.

From BBC

A relatively new missile-toting unit of Marines, based on Okinawa, is designed to fight in a contested littoral battlespace by dispersing, concealing themselves, and taking out enemy ships and aircraft.

From The Wall Street Journal

The issue is that returns could end up dispersed, meaning one stock could crater and another could rebound spectacularly.

From Barron's

Related Words

• break up
• circulate
• diffuse
• disappear
• disband
• discharge
• dislodge
• dispel
• dissipate
• dissolve
• scatter
• separate
• spray
• spread
• vanish