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
Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Apr. 2024
But a state-by-state approach is scattered, advocates say.
—Stephanie Hanes, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2024
Parks and others said debris is still scattered for 100 feet around the former deer stands after the explosions, which occurred over the winter.
—John Myers, Twin Cities, 18 Apr. 2024
But due to the extreme weakness of gravity, physicists expect graviton scattering to occur 39 orders of magnitude more rarely than photon scattering.
—Charlie Wood, WIRED, 14 Apr. 2024
Another is the state’s seemingly countless efforts — both legislation and administrative decrees, scattered among a plethora of agencies – to reach the holy grail of carbon emission neutrality with little or no evaluation of their cost-effectiveness.
—Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 13 Apr. 2024
Flea market finds are scattered among bowls of fruit, vegetables and herbs harvested from the farm.
—Laurie Ochoa, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Another is the state’s seemingly countless efforts – both legislation and administrative decrees, scattered among a plethora of agencies – to reach the holy grail of carbon emission neutralitywith little or no evaluation of their cost-effectiveness.
—Dan Walters, Orange County Register, 11 Apr. 2024
During the last 15 years, iACT has worked with more than 43,000 children who have been displaced by war and conflict scattered throughout six countries, mostly in Africa.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
The Indianapolis Star, 6 Mar. 2024
There are many kinds of historical stone features – waste piles, cairns, scatters, lines, kilns, gravestones, cobbles, patios and more.
—Robert M. Thorson, Discover Magazine, 9 Dec. 2023
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
Verb
In the outlook, NWS says central Indiana could see scattered to numerous thunderstorms with the primary hazard being strong winds.
—Katie Wiseman, The Indianapolis Star, 18 Apr. 2024
But a state-by-state approach is scattered, advocates say.
—Stephanie Hanes, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Apr. 2024
Parks and others said debris is still scattered for 100 feet around the former deer stands after the explosions, which occurred over the winter.
—John Myers, Twin Cities, 18 Apr. 2024
But due to the extreme weakness of gravity, physicists expect graviton scattering to occur 39 orders of magnitude more rarely than photon scattering.
—Charlie Wood, WIRED, 14 Apr. 2024
Another is the state’s seemingly countless efforts — both legislation and administrative decrees, scattered among a plethora of agencies – to reach the holy grail of carbon emission neutrality with little or no evaluation of their cost-effectiveness.
—Dan Walters, The Mercury News, 13 Apr. 2024
Flea market finds are scattered among bowls of fruit, vegetables and herbs harvested from the farm.
—Laurie Ochoa, Los Angeles Times, 12 Apr. 2024
Another is the state’s seemingly countless efforts – both legislation and administrative decrees, scattered among a plethora of agencies – to reach the holy grail of carbon emission neutralitywith little or no evaluation of their cost-effectiveness.
—Dan Walters, Orange County Register, 11 Apr. 2024
During the last 15 years, iACT has worked with more than 43,000 children who have been displaced by war and conflict scattered throughout six countries, mostly in Africa.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024
Noun
When the moon moves into the inner part of Earth's shadow, or umbra, according to NASA, some of the sunlight entering Earth's skies scatters before reaching the moon's surface.
—The Indianapolis Star, 6 Mar. 2024
There are many kinds of historical stone features – waste piles, cairns, scatters, lines, kilns, gravestones, cobbles, patios and more.
—Robert M. Thorson, Discover Magazine, 9 Dec. 2023
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
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.
Dictionary Entries Near scatter
Cite this Entry
“Scatter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scatter. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationMedical 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
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