Scatter (Verb)
Meaning 1
Move away from each other; "The crowds dispersed"; "The children scattered in all directions when the teacher approached".
Classification
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming.
Examples
- The birds took flight, scattering quickly as the hunter approached.
- When the alarm went off, her students immediately scattered around the room.
- As the music stopped, the party crowd began to scatter in all directions.
- The kids would scatter, trying to hide their playing when the parents came home.
- Without warning, the once unified group started to scatter, arguing and disagreeing loudly.
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Meaning 2
Sow by scattering; "scatter seeds".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- Birds often help spread plant life by scatter seeds as they forage for food and migrate to new areas.
- Farmers sometimes scatter seeds by hand or use specialized equipment to evenly distribute them across the fields.
- It's an important technique to scatter seeds wide enough apart to prevent overcrowding when the plants begin to grow.
- If you plan on planting a wildflower garden, scatter seeds lightly in the early spring to give them enough time to root and grow.
- Some plants are naturally dispersed by the wind, while others are human-placed like when we scatter seeds along hiking trails to create colorful plant growth.
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Meaning 3
To cause to separate and go in different directions; "She waved her hand and scattered the crowds".
Classification
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming.
Examples
- The strong gust of wind scattered the leaves across the park.
- The loud noise scattered the birds from the trees.
- She waved her hand, and the children scattered to find their seats.
- The rumors of a wild animal scattered the campers in all directions.
- A sudden alarm scattered the shoppers from the crowded store.
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Meaning 4
Strew or distribute over an area; "He spread fertilizer over the lawn"; "scatter cards across the table".
Classification
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming.
Examples
- The wind began to scatter the leaves across the yard, making it difficult to clean up.
- She carefully scatter the flower petals across the surface of the water for a peaceful effect.
- A hand was used to scatter the wildflower seeds across the fertile soil.
- A careless driver scatter broken glass all over the road with a broken headlight.
- The players scatter the poker chips across the table in preparation for the game.
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Meaning 5
Distribute loosely; "He scattered gun powder under the wagon".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- She scattered leaves across the forest floor to camouflage her path.
- The pilot scattered seeds over the barren land from the airplane.
- The strong wind scattered papers all over the street.
- He scattered rose petals down the aisle as part of the wedding ceremony.
- She scattered birdseed on the ground to attract birds to the yard.
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Meaning 6
Cause to separate; "break up kidney stones"; "disperse particles".
Classification
Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc..
Examples
- The laser treatment is designed to scatter kidney stones into smaller pieces for easy passage.
- She gently scattered the seeds across the garden bed to create a diverse landscape.
- The device is used to scatter microparticles in a controlled and precise manner.
- A strong gust of wind came through the park and scattered the leaves everywhere.
- The intense pressure was enough to scatter the tumor cells and allow healthy tissue to grow.