scatter

Syllables: scat·terUK/ˈskætə//ˈskætɚ/

scatter verb: to (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.

Verb

scatter (third-person singular simple present scatters, present participle scattering, simple past and past participle scattered)

(ergative) To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.
- The crowd scattered in terror.
- Scatter and disperse the giddy Goths.c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
(transitive) To distribute loosely as by sprinkling.
- Her ashes were scattered at the top of a waterfall.
- Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains, / Their scattered cottages, and ample plains?1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
(transitive) To deflect (radiation or particles).
- Chasca's ring is unique. It appears to be, for lack of a better term, a massive piece of alien "installation art." The rings are made of small pieces of synthetic material, and are almost invisible from space. From the ground, they catch and scatter the light of Matano in picturesque ways. It is...2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Chasca planetary description
(intransitive) To occur or fall at widely spaced intervals.
(transitive) To frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow.
- to scatter hopes or plans
(transitive) To be dispersed upon.
- Desiccated stalks scattered the fields.
- […] its beauty is obscured by the environmental waste and loose trash that scatter the countryside.2016, J. D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy, page 21
(transitive) Of a pitcher: to spread out a high number of hits or walks between innings so as not to give up a high number of runs
(US, slang) To leave.
- When the police showed up, I scattered.

Noun

scatter (countable and uncountable, plural scatters)

The act of scattering or dispersing.
A collection of dispersed objects.
- The Los Angeles Basin evolved as a mobility surface principally through the combination of an initial system of electric railways connecting a scatter of agricultural settlement settlements.2006, Theano S. Terkenli, Anne-Marie d'Hauteserre, Landscapes of a New Cultural Economy of Space, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 84
- A broad scatter of kurgan graves in the steppes contained imported Tripolye C2 pots (among other imported pot types) and a few, like Serezlievka, also contained Tripolye-like schematic rod-headed figurines.2007, David W. Anthony, The Horse, the Wheel, and Language, Princeton: Princeton University Press, page 498

scatter meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

scatter in Marathi

to scatter: विखुरणे vikhurṇe, उधळणे udhaḷṇe
to scatter, sprinkle: पेरणे perṇe
to scatter, disarrange: विस्कटणे viskaṭṇe

scatter in Urdu

بکھرنا, چھٹکنا, شیرازہ بکھرنا, بکھیرنا, ڈالنا, پھیلانا

More languagesFewer languages

scatter in Bengali: ছড়িয়ে দেওয়া, ছিন্ন করা
scatter in Telugu: చెదురు ceduru
scatter in Malayalam: വിതറുക vitaṟuka, തൂകുക tūkuka
scatter in Kannada: ಬಿದಿರು bidiru, ಚದರು cadaru, ಎರಚು eracu, ಈಡಾಡು īḍāḍu
scatter in Punjabi: کھلارنا khilārnā, سٹنا suṭṭṇā
scatter in Odia: ବିଚ୍ଛୁରଣ କରନ୍ତୁ, ବିଚ୍ଛୁରଣ କରିବା ପାଇଁ, ବିଚ୍ଛୁରିତ କରିବା
scatter in Sanskrit: स्तृणोति stṛṇoti, स्तृनाति stṛnāti
scatter in Nepali: छरिने
scatter in Arabic: نَثَرَ naṯara, تَفَرَّقَ tafarraqa
scatter in Persian: پراکندن parâkandan

Examples of scatter in a sentence

From the ground, they catch and scatter the light of Matano in picturesque ways.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Chasca planetary description:
The plot of all our sea-level index points shows a scatter of data points that do not overlap […]2015, Ian Shennan, Antony J. Long, Benjamin P. Horton, Handbook of Sea-Level Research, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 19:

All 40 example sentences with scatter

Forms of scatter

Verb
third-person singular present	scatters
present participle	scattering
past participle	scattered
past	scattered
Noun
plural	scatters

Past tense of scatter: scattered

Origin of scatter

From Middle English scateren, skateren, also schateren, * probably a variant of shatter, which is imitative; * or from Old English *sceaterian, probably akin to a dialect of Old Norse, possibly ultimately related to Proto-Indo-European *skey- (“to cut, split, shatter”). Compare Middle Dutch scheteren (“to scatter”), Low German schateren, Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”); and is apparently remotely akin to Ancient Greek σκεδάννυμι (skedánnumi, “scatter, disperse”). and Tocharian B kät- (“to scatter, sow seeds”). Doublet of shatter.

Words formed from scatter

Phrases with scatter

Words that rhyme with scatter

10 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about scatter

What does scatter mean?: Scatter means to (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse.
What is scatter in Hindi?: Scatter in Hindi is छितरना (chitarnā). See Scatter meaning in Hindi.
How do you use scatter in a sentence?: From the ground, they catch and scatter the light of Matano in picturesque ways.
What part of speech is scatter?: Scatter can be a verb or a noun.
How do you pronounce scatter?: Scatter is pronounced /ˈskætə/ (UK).
What is the past tense of scatter?: The past tense of scatter is scattered.

Words near scatter in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-scatter.ogg.

Cite this entry: “scatter.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/scatter. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.