disperse

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“
My fears disperse, my sins remove,

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Definitions (30)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (8)

  1. transitive verb To drive off or scatter in different directions: The police dispersed the crowd.
  2. transitive verb To strew or distribute widely: The airplane dispersed the leaflets over the city.
  3. transitive verb To cause to vanish or disappear. See Synonyms at scatter.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (14)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (2)

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Examples (50)

  • By 8 p.m. the crowd started to disperse, and an hour later we were back in our cabin, reading by the light of kerosene lamps. —  RutlandHerald.com
  • And they're not about to disperse, at low cost, this new Internet access. —  KnowProSE.com - Comments
  • Police officials have said journalists were ordered to disperse, along with crowds of protesters, and those who did not follow orders were arrested like everyone else. —  Extra! Extra!
  • Forced to disperse, the group retreated into the Central Market building.
  • British Major John Pitcairn ordered the outnumbered Patriots to disperse, and after a moment's hesitation the Americans began to drift off the green. —  Latest Articles
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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disperse:   dispersing ·  dispersed
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English dispersen, from Old French disperser, from Latin dispergere, dispers-, to disperse : dis-, apart; see dis- + spargere, to scatter.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from French disperse = Spanish Portuguese dispersar, from Latin dispersus, past participle of dispergere, scatter abroad, disperse, from dis-, di-, apart, + spargere, past participle sparsus, scatter: see sparse.
  2. Middle English dispers, from Old French dispers, dispars, from Latin dispersus, scattered, past participle of dispergere, scatter: see disperse, v.
 

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/dɪsˈpərsər/
by American Heritage

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You can expect to see this word exactly 42 times a year.

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