adjective
- distributed or occurring at widely spaced and usually irregular intervals: scattered villages; scattered showers.
- dispersed; disorganized: scattered forces.
- distracted or disorganized: scattered thoughts.
- Meteorology. (of clouds) covering up to one-half of the sky.Compare broken(def 5).
verb (used with object)
- to throw loosely about; distribute at irregular intervals: to scatter seeds.
- to separate and drive off in various directions; disperse: to scatter a crowd.
- Physics.
- to refract or diffract (light or other electromagnetic radiation) irregularly so as to diffuse in many directions.
- (of a medium) to diffuse or deflect (light or other wave phenomena) by collisions between the wave and particles of the medium.
verb (used without object)
- to separate and disperse; go in different directions.
noun
- the act of scattering.
- something that is scattered.
verb
- (tr) to throw about in various directions; strew
- to separate and move or cause to separate and move in various directions; disperse
- to deviate or cause to deviate in many directions, as in the diffuse reflection or refraction of light
noun
- the act of scattering
- a substance or a number of objects scattered about
v.mid-12c. (transitive), possibly a northern English variant of Middle English schateren (see shatter), reflecting Norse influence. Intransitive sense from early 15c. Related: Scattered; scattering. As a noun from 1640s. v.
- To cause to separate and go in different directions.
- To separate and go in different directions; disperse.
- To deflect radiation or particles.
n.
- The act of scattering or the condition of being scattered.