scatter
pronunciation
How to pronounce scatter in British English:
UK [ˈskætə(r)]
How to pronounce scatter in American English:
US [ˈskætər]
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- Noun:
- a haphazard distribution in all directions
- the act of scattering
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- Verb:
- to cause to separate and go in different directions
- move away from each other
- distribute loosely
- sow by scattering
- cause to separate
- strew or distribute over an area
Word Origin
- scatter
- scatter: [13] Scatter originally meant ‘squander’, and appears to have started life as an alteration of shatter. It first appears in northern and Scottish texts, and so the change from /sh/ to /sk/ is probably due to Norse influence. The origins of shatter [12] itself are not known.=> shatter
- scatter (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.
Example
- 1. The answer is to scatter the bubbles .
- 2. An industrial revival would scatter wealth around a country currently dominated by london and the south-east .
- 3. Girls scatter flowers from the rooftops .
- 4. In the nuclear age this has meant the ability to scatter defences around its western neighbour .
- 5. We could scatter them across the country in line with current population patterns , but both spatial economics and history tell us that we can do better .