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.
Energy and momentum travel through the gas indefinitely instead of dispersing as heat, which is what happens in most materials.
From Science Daily
So many of my friends are dispersing to different parts of the world, which is really cool,” he said.
From MarketWatch
Iran's Fars news agency said "sporadic gatherings" took place around the bazaar during an afternoon shutdown, with police dispersing the protest and demonstrators scattering into the alleyways nearby.
From Barron's
When their home burned, the family had to disperse to different rentals, so they now pay double to cover housing and bills.
The disappearance of the original object, now labeled Fomalhaut cs1, supports the idea that it was a dust cloud slowly dispersing after a collision.
From Science Daily
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.
