Scattering

5 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Scattering \Scat"ter*ing\, a.
     Going or falling in various directions; not united or
     aggregated; divided among many; as, scattering votes.
     [1913 Webster]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:



  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]

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Scattering \Scat"ter*ing\, n.
     Act of strewing about; something scattered. --South.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  scattering
       adj : spreading by diffusion [syn: {diffusing(a)}, {diffusive}, {dispersive},
              {disseminative}, {disseminating}, {spreading}]
       n 1: the physical process in which particles are deflected
            haphazardly as a result of collisions
       2: a small number dispersed haphazardly; "the first scatterings
          of green" [syn: {sprinkling}]
       3: a light shower that falls in some locations and not others
          nearby [syn: {sprinkle}, {sprinkling}]
       4: spreading widely or driving off [syn: {dispersion}]
       5: the act of scattering [syn: {scatter}, {strewing}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  89 Moby Thesaurus words for "scattering":
     a few, aloofness, anarchy, attenuation, attenuative, bit, breakup,
     broadcast, broadcasting, chaos, circumfusion, confusion, crack-up,
     diffraction, diffractional, diffractive, diffusion, diffusive,
     dilution, discontinuity, discreteness, disintegration, disjunction,
     dislocation, disorder, dispensation, dispersal, dispersion,
     dispersive, disruption, dissemination, disseminative, dissipation,
     dissipative, dissolution, distribution, distributive, divergence,
     emanation, entropy, evaporation, exfoliation, expansion, few,
     fragmentation, handful, hint, incoherence, inconsistency,
     limited number, nonadhesion, noncohesion, only a few, peppering,
     piddling few, piddling number, propagation, publication, radiance,
     radiation, radius, ray, revolution, scaling, scatterment,
     separateness, shattering, shotgun pattern, small number, smatter,
     smattering, soupcon, sowing, spatter, spattering, splay, spoke,
     spread, spreading, sprinkling, strewing, suggestion, too few,
     trickle, trifle, unadherence, unadhesiveness, untenacity,
     volatilization