disperse
[dih-spurs]
- to drive or send off in various directions; scatter: to disperse a crowd.
- to spread widely; disseminate: to disperse knowledge.
- to dispel; cause to vanish: The wind dispersed the fog.
- Physical Chemistry. to cause (particles) to separate uniformly throughout a solid, liquid, or gas.
- Optics. to subject (light) to dispersion.
Show More
- to separate and move apart in different directions without order or regularity; become scattered: The crowd dispersed.
- to be dispelled; be scattered out of sight; vanish: The smoke dispersed into the sky.
Show More
- Physical Chemistry. noting the dispersed particles in a dispersion.
Show More
Origin of disperse
1350–1400; Middle English dispersen, disparsen (< Middle French disperser) < 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
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
dispelseparatedissolvediffusedislodgesprayspreaddissipatedisbanddischargevanishscatterdisappearcirculatesheddismissdealejectdisseminateroutExamples from the Web for disperse
Contemporary Examples
At about 11 p.m. State Police started flying a helicopter over the scene, ordering the crowds to disperse.
Frat Culture Clashes With Riot Police at Keene, N.H., Pumpkin FestivalMelanie Plenda
October 19, 2014
This is a problem, since no traffic police can identify any of the trucks if they start to disperse once they enter Ukraine.
When a big cache of weapons is inbound, rival outfits often gang together to disperse the load among their safe houses.
“Instead of car tires, concrete blocks are placed there now, and nobody intends to disperse,” the minister said.
The crowd bawls its approval, but begins to disperse after one encore.
Historical Examples
Once afoot, it was not long before the company began to disperse.
The White CompanyArthur Conan Doyle
A little later the crowd at the swimming place began to disperse.
Frank Roscoe's SecretAllen Chapman
"There's one point we almost overlooked," said Frank, just as the chums were about to disperse.
Frank Roscoe's SecretAllen Chapman
They lift up their hands to disperse the grains of the sand-storm.
A Spirit in PrisonRobert Hichens
They say to hit the waterspout in the centre where it joins the other from below will disperse it.
Standish of StandishJane G. Austin
disperse
- to scatter; distribute over a wide area
- to dissipate or cause to dissipate
- to leave or cause to leave a gathering, often in a random manner
- to separate or be separated by dispersion
- (tr) to diffuse or spread (news, information, etc)
- to separate (particles) throughout a solid, liquid, or gas, as in the formation of a suspension or colloid
Show More
- of or consisting of the particles in a colloid or suspensiondisperse phase
Show More
Word Origin
C14: from Latin dispērsus scattered, from dispergere to scatter widely, from di- ² + spargere to strew
xref
See disburse
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for disperse
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
disperse
(dĭ-spûrs′)- To cause to separate and move in different directions; scatter.
- To cause to vanish or disappear.
Show More
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.