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definitions

shatter

[shat-er]
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verb (used with object)

to break (something) into pieces, as by a blow.
to damage, as by breaking or crushing: ships shattered by storms.
to impair or destroy (health, nerves, etc.): The incident shattered his composure.
to weaken, destroy, or refute (ideas, opinions, etc.): He wanted to shatter her illusions.

verb (used without object)

to be broken into fragments or become weak or insubstantial.

noun

Usually shatters. fragments made by shattering.

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RELATED WORDS

smash, dash, splinter, wreck, ruin, explode, exhaust, demolish, crush, impair, disable, split, fracture, crack, snap, destroy, blast, burst, rattle, devastate

Nearby words

  1. shastraik,
  2. shastri,
  3. shat,
  4. shatt al arab,
  5. shatt-al-arab,
  6. shatter cone,
  7. shattered,
  8. shattering,
  9. shatterproof,
  10. shaun

Origin of shatter

1300–50; Middle English schateren < ?; cf. scatter
Related forms

Synonym study

1. See break.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for shattered

British Dictionary definitions for shattered

shattered

adjective

broken into many small pieces
impaired or destroyed
dumbfounded or thoroughly upset
informal tired out or exhausted

shatter

verb

to break or be broken into many small pieces
(tr) to impair or destroyhis nerves were shattered by the torture
(tr) to dumbfound or thoroughly upsetshe was shattered by the news
(tr) informal to cause to be tired out or exhausted
an obsolete word for scatter

noun

(usually plural) obsolete, or dialect a fragment
Derived Formsshatterer, nounshattering, adjectiveshatteringly, adverb

Word Origin for shatter

C12: perhaps obscurely related to scatter
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 shattered

shatter

v.

early 14c., transitive, probably a variant of Middle English scateren (see scatter (v.)). Cf. Old Dutch schetteren Low German schateren. Formations such as scatter-brained had parallel forms in shatter-brained, etc. Intransitive sense from 1560s. Related: Shattered; shattering. Carlyle (1841) used shatterment. Shatters "fragments" is from 1630s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper