disperse
Americanverb (used with object)
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to drive or send off in various directions; scatter.
to disperse a crowd.
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to spread widely; disseminate.
to disperse knowledge.
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to dispel; cause to vanish.
The wind dispersed the fog.
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Physical Chemistry. to cause (particles) to separate uniformly throughout a solid, liquid, or gas.
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Optics. to subject (light) to dispersion.
verb (used without object)
adjective
verb
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to scatter; distribute over a wide area
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to dissipate or cause to dissipate
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to leave or cause to leave a gathering, often in a random manner
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to separate or be separated by dispersion
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(tr) to diffuse or spread (news, information, etc)
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to separate (particles) throughout a solid, liquid, or gas, as in the formation of a suspension or colloid
adjective
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
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The strategic task then is to determine how to retain agency when technological power is concentrating rather than dispersing.
“Increasingly, there’s a consensus that kinetic impact projectiles, which there are many different forms of, that these can never really be used safely to disperse crowds.”
From Salon
The lion had been seen traversing the city since at least Sunday and probably got lost while dispersing from its mother, the agency said.
From Los Angeles Times
But Iran is likely to have since tightened up security and dispersed.
From BBC
“The knowledge, infrastructure, and talent that go into building companies are now much more dispersed,” Mr.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
