shatter

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“
His boughs they shatter, and his branches rend;

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Definitions (22)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (7)

  1. transitive verb To cause to break or burst suddenly into pieces, as with a violent blow.
  2. transitive verb To damage seriously; disable: His health was shattered by the disease.
  3. transitive verb To cause the destruction or ruin of; destroy: The outcome of the conflict shattered our dreams of peace and prosperity.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (9)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Porcelain would easily shatter, and from his initial observation of the piece of fluff standing next to him, so would she. —  Garwood, Julie - Prince Charming
  • Our galaxy is the stage for a drama of worlds being born and dying, while even mighty galaxies col. lide, shatter, and merge. —  F ;SF; - vol 089 issue 04-05 - October-November 1995
  • The glass shook but didn't shatter, although a crack slowly streaked from one side to the other. —  Yasmine Galenorn - [Sisters of the Moon 1] - Witchling
  • He watched it shatter, and then, still enraged, he slammed his fist into the wall. —  Garwood, Julie - Buchanan 1 - Heartbreaker
  • The sound of glass continuing to shatter is an introduction to the screaming. —  Glamorama
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

Used in the same contextWord Family

shatter:   shatters ·  shattering ·  shattered
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 schateren, from Old English *sceaterian, to scatter.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English schateren, scatter, dash (of falling water); an assibilated form of scatter: see scatter.
  2. from shatter, v.
 

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/ˈʃætər/
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