disperse

[ dih-spurs ]

/ dɪˈspɜrs /

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See synonyms for: disperse / dispersed / dispersing / dispersible on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), dis·persed, dis·pers·ing.

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.

verb (used without object), dis·persed, dis·pers·ing.

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.

adjective

Physical Chemistry. noting the dispersed particles in a dispersion.

OTHER WORDS FOR disperse

2 sow, broadcast.

7 disappear, evanesce.

See synonyms for disperse on Thesaurus.com

OPPOSITES FOR disperse

1 combine, collect.

See antonyms for disperse on Thesaurus.com

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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

synonym study for disperse

1. See scatter.

OTHER WORDS FROM disperse

dis·pers·ed·ly

[dih-spur-sid-lee], /dɪˈspɜr sɪd li/, adverbdis·pers·er, noundis·pers·i·bil·i·ty, noundis·pers·i·ble, adjective

pre·dis·perse, verb (used with object), pre·dis·persed, pre·dis·pers·ing.re·dis·perse, verb, re·dis·persed, re·dis·pers·ing.un·dis·persed, adjectiveun·dis·pers·ing, adjectivewell-dis·persed, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH disperse

disperse , disburse

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use disperse in a sentence

But, the long, art-filled passageways keep crowds dispersed.
You have until Nov. 22 to visit these six Smithsonian museums. Here’s what to expect.|Kelsey Ables|November 19, 2020|Washington Post
“If you’re a toad on an island and there’s nowhere to disperse to, then you don’t need to invest energy into getting these long gangly legs that let you jump straight for days on end, because there’s nowhere to go,” Baxter-Gilbert says.
Guttural toads shrank by a third after just 100 years on two islands|Jake Buehler|November 19, 2020|Science News
Before dispersing from the studio, Pohorski and Vondrak estimated they had between 50 and 60 percent of the voice over work finalized.
‘Call of Duty’ voice actors spent the summer on video calls like the rest of us|Mike Hume|November 11, 2020|Washington Post
If you see a house with a line of six families in front of it, it’s probably best to come back later after the crowd has dispersed.
How to safely celebrate Halloween during COVID-19|Kate Baggaley|October 29, 2020|Popular-Science

A few weeks ago, while showing off the new Echo, Tom Taylor, Amazon senior vice president of Alexa, told Fortune that one of the reasons for the Echo’s redesign was to allow sound to better disperse through a room.
Here’s what Amazon’s new Echo speakers are like|jonathanvanian2015|October 22, 2020|Fortune
The new government would have no more success in dispersing the Euromaidan “Security Patrol” than the Yanukovych government did.
Is Ukraine Headed For Civil War?|Will Cathcart|February 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The solution of dispersing the remedy in a giant cloud above the city is exactly from The Amazing Spider-Man.
Krrish 3 Review: What the Bollywood Movie Steals From Superhero Films|Sujay Kumar|November 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Security sources say the children provide a serious logistical challenge to their efforts at dispersing the sit-in.
Children Swarm Cairo’s Rabaa Sit-In|Mike Giglio|August 13, 2013|DAILY BEAST
This time, instead of dispersing the crowd, the police response swelled its ranks exponentially.
As Police Cede Taksim Square, Istanbul Remains On Edge|Mike Giglio|June 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
They walked in silence until we came to Broadway, where a dozen or so police officers were dispersing a crowd of some sort.
Encounters With Thomas Pynchon|Nick Romeo|October 5, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The British succeeded in dispersing the boats with the baggage belonging to his command, and captured 12 of them.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
He remains a while in peaceful quiet; the morning sunbeams, the dispersing mists, and lovely flowers seem to pay tribute to him.
Beacon Lights of History, Volume I|John Lord
While they were thus mocking me Black Hoof appeared, moving with great dignity, and dispersing my tormentors with a gesture.
A Virginia Scout|Hugh Pendexter
In one grand point he, however, succeeded, that of annihilating or dispersing the British legion.
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III.|E. Farr and E. H. Nolan
In several places the commissioners and the guards had difficulty in dispersing the crowd which surrounded us.
My Ten Years' Imprisonment|Silvio Pellico

British Dictionary definitions for disperse

disperse

/ (dɪˈspɜːs) /

verb

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

adjective

of or consisting of the particles in a colloid or suspensiondisperse phase

Derived forms of disperse

dispersedly (dɪˈspɜːsɪdlɪ), adverbdisperser, noun

Word Origin for disperse

C14: from Latin dispērsus scattered, from dispergere to scatter widely, from di- ² + spargere to strew

undefined disperse

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

disperse

OTHER WORDS FOR disperse

OPPOSITES FOR disperse

Origin of disperse

synonym study for disperse

OTHER WORDS FROM disperse

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH disperse

Words related to disperse

How to use disperse in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for disperse

Derived forms of disperse

Word Origin for disperse

undefined disperse