Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To pour out and cause to spread freely.
- v. To spread about or scatter; disseminate.
- v. To make less brilliant; soften.
- v. To become widely dispersed; spread out.
- v. Physics To undergo diffusion.
- adj. Widely spread or scattered; not concentrated.
- adj. Characterized by verbosity; wordy. See Synonyms at wordy.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To pour out and spread, as a fluid; cause to flow and spread.
- To spread abroad; scatter; send out or extend in all directions.
- Synonyms To scatter, disseminate, circulate, disperse, distribute, propagate.
- To spread, as a fluid, by the wandering of its molecules in amongst those of a contiguous fluid. Thus, if a layer of salt water be placed beneath fresh water, the salt water will gradually penetrate into the fresh water, against the action of gravity.
- Widely spread or diffused; extended; dispersed; scattered.
- Specifically.
- In pathology, spreading widely and having no distinctively defined limits: as, a diffuse inflammation or suppuration: opposed to circumscribed.
- In boto, spreading widely and loosely.
- In embryology, applied to a form of non-deciduate placenta in which the fetal villi form a broad belt.
- In zoology, sparse; few and scattered, as markings; especially, in entomology, said of punctures, etc., when they are less thickly set than on a neighboring part from which they appear to be scattered off.
- Prolix; using many words; verbose; rambling: said of speakers and writers or their style.
- Hard to understand; perplexing; requiring extended effort.
- Synonyms Loose, rambling, wordy, long-winded, diluted, spun out.
Wiktionary
- adj. Everywhere or throughout everything; not focused or concentrated.
- v. transitive To spread over or through as in air, water, or other matter, especially by fluid motion or passive means.
- v. intransitive To be spread over or through as in air, water, or other matter, especially by fluid motion or passive means.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To pour out and cause to spread, as a fluid; to cause to flow on all sides; to send out, or extend, in all directions; to spread; to circulate; to disseminate; to scatter; as to
diffuse information. - v. To pass by spreading every way, to diffuse itself.
- adj. Poured out; widely spread; not restrained; copious; full; esp., of style, opposed to
concise orterse ; verbose; prolix.
WordNet 3.0
- v. move outward
- adj. lacking conciseness
- adj. (of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected
- v. spread or diffuse through
- v. cause to become widely known
- adj. spread out; not concentrated in one place
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Latin diffusus, past participle of diffundere, from dis- + fundere (Wiktionary)
- From Middle English, dispersed, from Anglo-Norman diffus, from Latin diffūsus, past participle of diffundere, to spread : dis-, out, apart; see dis- + fundere, to pour; see gheu- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This crisis has arisen, the Prof says, because intensive cultivation has given rise to an upward trend in "diffuse" pollution from nitrates and phosphates which is proving difficult to reverse.”
“The object is felt to say something succinctly and forcibly that the inner vision reports vaguely, in diffuse feeling rather than organically.”
“DESCRIPTION: Also called St. Anthony's Fire, erysipelas is characterized by diffuse inflammation of the skin, or of the subcutaneous cellular tissue, usually with accompanying fever.”
“And in 1995, with Mike Jura at UCLA, we published a paper suggesting that if it was in space, it should be responsible for some very puzzling features that have been known for 90 years called the diffuse interstellar bands.”
“How about the definition for the word diffuse, courtesy of Dictionary. com?”
“There are theories that Marie may have had a medical condition termed diffuse alopecia areata, which can result in sudden hair loss.”
“We can see similar processes taking place today in so-called diffuse nebulae in this and other galaxies - such as the nebula M16, shown above left.”
“So it's very common, and the manifestations are very diffuse, which is one of the main reasons why it is so underdiagnosed in this country.”
“Gross was able to collect but 18 examples; but closely allied to this condition is what is known as diffuse hypertrophy of the breast.”
“But if the book were being published this month, instead of last month, the term would be '99 percenters,' referring to the diffuse, leaderless resistance movement's statement: 'The one thing we all have in common is that we are the 99 percent that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1 percent.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘diffuse’.
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SCIE - EU nomenclature
All the scientific words found in the official EU nomenclature. For the screening I used Vocabgrabber of the Visual Thesaurus.
abdominal, absorbent, accelerator, accumulator, acebutolol, acetamide, acetanilide, acetate, acetic acid, acetone, acetous, acetyl and 1171 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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EN - confusables
Similar words meaning different things
accept, except, adverse, averse, advice, advise, affect, effect, aisle, isle, all together, altogether and 134 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abject, abjure, abscission, abscond, abstemious, abstinence, abysmal, accretion and 787 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
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GRE 2014
abate, abdicate, abase, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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IMCO - EU nomenclature
includes words of the "Prodcom list"
abaca, abdominal, abrasive, absorbent, absorber, accelerator, accessory, account book, accumulator, acebutolol, acetaldehyde, acetamide and 4515 more...
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Undo
A list of terms that denote separating one thing from another, or deconstructing a thing into its parts or to a former state. E.g., untie, divorce, unscramble.
untie, divorce, unscramble, disunite, disjoin, undo, separate, disassemble, uncouple, unhitch, disassociate, disaffiliate and 185 more...
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man gre
abase, abeyance, abreast, abscission, abscond, abyss, accede, accretion, acerbic, acidulous, acumen, adulterate and 483 more...
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Old words
recalcitrant, grok, Hiatus, shanghai, pervade, diffuse, tempestuous, incorrigible, daunt, cull, Erudite, Assuage and 35 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1901 more...
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MyList
peter out, fraying, jump on the bandw..., indignation, eclectic, hung up, salutary, hoary, warped, glaring, blue-collar, concomitant and 105 more...
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Reckon's Word List
Turned On
tintinnabulation, talisman, soliloquy, serendipity, quintessential, rhapsody, plethora, myrrh, palimpsest, panoply, mellifluous, loquacious and 102 more...
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To Flow or Pour Out or Forth
Words meaning to flow or pour out or forth
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for diffuse.

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