disperse
Americanverb (used with object)
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disperses,
present (3rd person singular)
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dispersed,
past participle, past
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dispersing
present participle
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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)
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disperses,
present (3rd person singular)
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dispersed,
past participle, past
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dispersing
present participle
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
Synonym Usage
See scatter.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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dispersernoun
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dispersibilitynoun
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redisperseverb
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predisperseverb (used with object)
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dispersibleadjective
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undispersedadjective
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undispersingadjective
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well-dispersedadjective
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dispersedlyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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dispersesimple
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dispersessimple
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have dispersedperfect
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has dispersedperfect
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am dispersingprogressive
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are dispersingprogressive
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is dispersingprogressive
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have been dispersingperfect progressive
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has been dispersingperfect progressive
Past
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dispersedsimple
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had dispersedperfect
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was dispersingprogressive
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were dispersingprogressive
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had been dispersingperfect progressive
Future
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
Explanation
To make a crowd at a party disperse, you could take away the food, turn off the music and ask for volunteers to clean up. Disperse is to spread out people or things, making them move in different directions. Imagine yourself standing on a basketball court holding a cup packed tight with marbles. If you turn it over, the marbles will disperse across the floor, moving away from you in all directions. Another word for this is scatter. Don't confuse this word with disburse, which means to distribute money. Remember that false friends disperse when you cease to disburse.
Vocabulary lists containing disperse
Fahrenheit 451
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The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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All American Boys
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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.
See Examples For:
When less-lethal weapons proved ineffective, the department deployed tear gas on two occasions, June 8 and 14, to disperse “violent groups” and restore order.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Finally, the U.S. needs to disperse facilities, such as naval and air bases, to make it more difficult for adversaries to attack.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
In the eastern state of Bihar, a police official was suspended for using an assault rifle to disperse student protesters in Siwan district on Saturday.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
The torrential rain forces many of those who had gathered to disperse.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
When sprayed, the colonies disperse as the mites, irritated though not killed by the chemicals, scatter out in search of places where they will not be disturbed.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
But as tech talent disperses to the likes of Austin, Texas, that reason may become less important.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
When you season the crumbs directly, you’re ensuring that flavor disperses evenly throughout the loaf rather than pooling in pockets.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026
Simple things like the way your body disperses fat, aging, or skin laxity can create asymmetry.
From Slate ● Feb. 22, 2026
For the first time, this proves it is possible to study pollution from re-entering rockets at such heights before it disperses, the scientists said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
After maybe ten minutes of questions, the crowd disperses and we walk back to our parking spot.
From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak
Cartridges fixed on the aircraft's wings contain a substance that, when dispersed, sticks to cloud droplets, making them heavy enough to fall as rain.
From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026
Rather than modifying the ink with surfactants or chemically altering the particles, they dispersed nanoscale ultra fine bubbles throughout the liquid.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 11, 2026
No other injuries were reported from the incident and the group dispersed, with the road re-opening from around 01:00 BST, the Met said.
From BBC ● Jul. 10, 2026
The costs will be dispersed across consumers, who will pay higher prices, and workers, who will see promotions, raises and opportunities delayed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
Programs scheduled to culminate in two years became outmoded in six months, and crowds of men gathered for them in one place were dispersed to twenty others.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
The rotating forces improved their performance, as they became more adept at dispersing and concealing themselves and using electronic warfare, said the Army official.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
"We are on watch for tonight, it's the weekend. We will be dispersing people from the area," he told the BBC.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
Rather than dispersing evenly in every direction, heat can follow routes determined by the structure of a crystal.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026
“Her travel patterns continue to demonstrate the unpredictable movements of a dispersing wolf seeking a mate and territory of its own,” John Marchwick, of the educational group California Wolf Watch, said in a statement.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
I opened the door to a chauffeur, and past his shoulder I could see some police constables dispersing to various points of the grounds.
From "The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro
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.
