scatter.
To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.
Meaning & usage
To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.
The crowd scattered in terror.
To distribute loosely as by sprinkling.
Her ashes were scattered at the top of a waterfall.
To deflect (radiation or particles).
To occur or fall at widely spaced intervals.
To frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow.
to scatter hopes or plans
To be dispersed upon.
Desiccated stalks scattered the fields.
Of a pitcher: to spread out a high number of hits or walks between innings so as not to give up a high number of runs
To leave.
When the police showed up, I scattered.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English scateren, skateren, also schateren, * probably a variant of shatter, which is imitative; * or from Old English *sceaterian, probably akin to a dialect of Old Norse, possibly ultimately related to Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split, shatter”). Compare Middle Dutch scheteren (“to scatter”), Low German schateren, Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”); and is apparently remotely akin to Ancient Greek σκεδάννυμι (skedánnumi, “scatter, disperse”). and Tocharian B kät- (“to scatter, sow seeds”). Doublet of shatter.
The act of scattering or dispersing.
A collection of dispersed objects.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English scateren, skateren, also schateren, * probably a variant of shatter, which is imitative; * or from Old English *sceaterian, probably akin to a dialect of Old Norse, possibly ultimately related to Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split, shatter”). Compare Middle Dutch scheteren (“to scatter”), Low German schateren, Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”); and is apparently remotely akin to Ancient Greek σκεδάννυμι (skedánnumi, “scatter, disperse”). and Tocharian B kät- (“to scatter, sow seeds”). Doublet of shatter.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.