[syn: scatter, scattering, strewing]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Scattering \Scat"ter*ing\, n.
Act of strewing about; something scattered. --South.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Scatter \Scat"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Scattered; p. pr. &
vb. n. Scattering.] [OE. scateren. See Shatter.]
1. To strew about; to sprinkle around; to throw down loosely;
to deposit or place here and there, esp. in an open or
sparse order.
[1913 Webster]
And some are scattered all the floor about.
--Chaucer.
[1913 Webster]
Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains,
Their scattered cottages, and ample plains?
--Dryden.
[1913 Webster]
Teach the glad hours to scatter, as they fly,
Soft quiet, gentle love, and endless joy. --Prior.
[1913 Webster]
2. To cause to separate in different directions; to reduce
from a close or compact to a loose or broken order; to
dissipate; to disperse.
[1913 Webster]
Scatter and disperse the giddy Goths. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
3. Hence, to frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow; as, to
scatter hopes, plans, or the like.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: To disperse; dissipate; spread; strew.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Scattering \Scat"ter*ing\, a.
Going or falling in various directions; not united or
aggregated; divided among many; as, scattering votes.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
scattering
n 1: a small number (of something) dispersed haphazardly; "the
first scatterings of green"; "a sprinkling of grey at his
temples" [syn: scattering, sprinkling]
2: the physical process in which particles are deflected
haphazardly as a result of collisions
3: a light shower that falls in some locations and not others
nearby [syn: scattering, sprinkle, sprinkling]
4: spreading widely or driving off [syn: dispersion,
scattering]
5: the act of scattering [syn: scatter, scattering,
strewing]