scatter has definitions from the field of botany
1
[ verb ] to cause to separate and go in different directions, of crowds, for example

Examples

"She waved her hand and scattered the crows."

Used in print

(The Providence Journal...)

A_few drops of rain just before midnight , when Sarah_Vaughan was in_the_midst of her first number , scattered the more timid members of the audience briefly , but at this hour and with Sarah on the stand , most_of the listeners did n't care whether they got wet .

2
[ verb ] move away from each other

Examples

"The crowds dispersed" "The children scattered in all directions when the teacher approached";

Used in print

(The Family Fallout Shelter. Office of Civil and Defence...)

Radiation scatters somewhat like light .

3
[ verb ] distribute loosely

Examples

"He scattered gun powder under the wagon."

Used in print

(S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge. New York:...)

What you were looking_for ( unless you make a hobby of collecting old tennis_rackets and fly screens ) eludes me , but to judge from phonograph_records scattered about a fumed_oak Victrola , you danced two tangos and a paso_doble , which must have been fairly enervating in that milieu .

4
[ verb ] (botany) sow by scattering

Examples

"scatter seeds"

Used in print

(Helen Hooven Santmyer, "There Were Fences"...)

Other flowers we might gather as we pleased : myrtle and white_violets from beneath the lilacs ; the lilacs themselves , that bloomed so prodigally but for_the_most_part beyond our reach ; snowballs ; hollyhock blossoms that , turned upside_down , make pink petticoated ladies ; and the little , dark_blue larkspur that scattered its seed everywhere .

Related terms

sow

5
[ verb ] cause to separate

Synonyms

disperse break_up

Examples

"break up kidney stones" "disperse particles"

Used in print

(Alex Gordon, The Cipher....)

His thoughts were scattered by the sharp report of a rifle from the other side of the door .

6
[ verb ] strew or distribute over an area

Synonyms

spread spread_out

Examples

"He spread fertilizer over the lawn" "scatter cards across the table"

7
[ noun ] a haphazard distribution in all directions

Synonyms

spread

8
[ noun ] the act of scattering

Synonyms

strewing scattering

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