scattered; scattering; scatters
1
a
: to cause to separate widely
b
: to cause to vanish
2
archaic
: to fling away heedlessly : squander
3
: to distribute irregularly
4
: to sow by casting in all directions : strew
5
a
: to reflect irregularly and diffusely
b
: to cause (a beam of radiation) to diffuse or disperse
6
: to divide into ineffectual small portions
1
: to separate and go in various directions : disperse
2
: to occur or fall irregularly or at random
1
: the act of scattering
2
: a small quantity or number irregularly distributed or strewn about : scattering
3
: the state or extent of being scattered
especially
: dispersion
Synonyms
Examples of scatter in a Sentence
Verb
The wind scattered the pile of leaves.
The marbles scattered across the floor.
She scattered the books on the table.
He scatters his toys all around the house.
Noun
played before only a scatter of spectators in that huge stadium
Recent Examples on the Web
Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2023
On Zoom calls with Wang and Daniel Guillemette, a senior producer for Serial, the two musicians had woodwinds, horns, keyboards and whatnot scattered about, visible in their background.
—Ken Armstrong, ProPublica, 22 Nov. 2023
And again, Ghada and her family are now in Rafah and Khan Yunis, scattered across multiple houses.
—Mark Sappenfield, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Nov. 2023
When the supercontinent broke apart, and India drifted northeast to its current position, the Seychelles were scattered behind like breadcrumbs.
—Frank Hulley-Jones, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023
And without such policies, this new target seemed like a cruel promise to those for whom the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius is their livelihoods—mostly the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) scattered across the world’s oceans.
—WIRED, 15 Nov. 2023
Withlacoochee Bay is scattered with similar small, uninhabited islands.
—Richard Lardner, Fortune, 13 Nov. 2023
Jackals and vultures followed, then the hyenas, who would eventually scatter the bones.
—Honor Moore, Travel + Leisure, 12 Nov. 2023
Spoon the apple mixture into the chilled piecrust, mounding it in the center and scattering cubes of butter over the fruit.
—Marianne Williams, Southern Living, 11 Nov. 2023
Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 25 Aug. 2023
His property is exactly the aesthetic the F & F production people are trying to fake, with a genuine scatter of cars and cycles, a school bus, an old Volvo, mysteriously torched.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 5 Jan. 2023
When the water is stagnant and still, the bass scatter, suspend, and become hard to catch.
—Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 18 Apr. 2023
And follows in the trail the scatter of light.
—Jason Lamphier, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2022
While there’s some scatter, the pattern of better results in late afternoon is very pronounced, with a lot of thick, dark, non-dashed lines.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 19 Sep. 2021
There is, of course, plenty of scatter: the study applied to real-world runners in real-world marathons.
—Richard A. Lovett, Outside Online, 6 Oct. 2020
The surprising thing is that people seemed to underestimate African ancestry from apparent physical features (looking at the scatter of apparent to genomic ancestry).
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2012
Aerosols can both absorb and scatter radiation from the sun.
—Kasha Patel, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Jan. 2023
See More
Verb
But the impractical value is likely larger; to be in the presence of a giant is for some reason calming—the air felt tranquil here, the sunlight scattered, the wind stilled.
—Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, 23 Nov. 2023
On Zoom calls with Wang and Daniel Guillemette, a senior producer for Serial, the two musicians had woodwinds, horns, keyboards and whatnot scattered about, visible in their background.
—Ken Armstrong, ProPublica, 22 Nov. 2023
And again, Ghada and her family are now in Rafah and Khan Yunis, scattered across multiple houses.
—Mark Sappenfield, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Nov. 2023
When the supercontinent broke apart, and India drifted northeast to its current position, the Seychelles were scattered behind like breadcrumbs.
—Frank Hulley-Jones, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023
And without such policies, this new target seemed like a cruel promise to those for whom the difference between 1.5 and 2 degrees Celsius is their livelihoods—mostly the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) scattered across the world’s oceans.
—WIRED, 15 Nov. 2023
Withlacoochee Bay is scattered with similar small, uninhabited islands.
—Richard Lardner, Fortune, 13 Nov. 2023
Jackals and vultures followed, then the hyenas, who would eventually scatter the bones.
—Honor Moore, Travel + Leisure, 12 Nov. 2023
Spoon the apple mixture into the chilled piecrust, mounding it in the center and scattering cubes of butter over the fruit.
—Marianne Williams, Southern Living, 11 Nov. 2023
Noun
Rapid-fire gunshots can be heard and people on the sidewalk scatter.
—Quinlan Bentley, The Enquirer, 25 Aug. 2023
His property is exactly the aesthetic the F & F production people are trying to fake, with a genuine scatter of cars and cycles, a school bus, an old Volvo, mysteriously torched.
—Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 5 Jan. 2023
When the water is stagnant and still, the bass scatter, suspend, and become hard to catch.
—Shaye Baker, Field & Stream, 18 Apr. 2023
And follows in the trail the scatter of light.
—Jason Lamphier, EW.com, 31 Oct. 2022
While there’s some scatter, the pattern of better results in late afternoon is very pronounced, with a lot of thick, dark, non-dashed lines.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 19 Sep. 2021
There is, of course, plenty of scatter: the study applied to real-world runners in real-world marathons.
—Richard A. Lovett, Outside Online, 6 Oct. 2020
The surprising thing is that people seemed to underestimate African ancestry from apparent physical features (looking at the scatter of apparent to genomic ancestry).
—Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 12 Nov. 2012
Aerosols can both absorb and scatter radiation from the sun.
—Kasha Patel, Anchorage Daily News, 31 Jan. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'scatter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English scateren, schateren to disperse, break up, destroy; akin to Middle Dutch schaderen to scatter
First Known Use
Verb
14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Noun
1642, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Time Traveler
The first known use of scatter was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing scatter
Dictionary Entries Near scatter
Cite this Entry
“Scatter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scatter. Accessed 3 Dec. 2023.
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Kids Definition
scatter
verb
scat·ter
ˈskat-ər
1
: to cause to separate widely
wind scattered the dry leaves
2
: to place or leave here and there
scattered their toys all over the house
3
: to sow widely and without pattern
4
: to separate and go in different directions
the crowd scattered
5
: to occur or fall without pattern
lakes scattered everywhere in the hills
Medical Definition
scatter
1 of 2 transitive verb
scat·ter
ˈskat-ər 
: to cause (a beam of radiation) to diffuse or disperse
scatter
2 of 2 noun1
: the act of scattering
2
: the state or extent of being scattered
especially
: scattering
More from Merriam-Webster on scatter
Nglish: Translation of scatter for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of scatter for Arabic Speakers
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