shatter 1 of 2

1
2
as in to smash
to cause to break open or into pieces by or as if by an explosive shattered the sealed clay pot to find out what was inside

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

3

shatter

2 of 2

noun

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shatter
Verb
Steps of Faith helped over 450 people in 2024, and are on pace to shatter that number in 2025. Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 7 Nov. 2025 Summer-like temperatures shattered heat records in Phoenix last October. Hayleigh Evans, AZCentral.com, 5 Nov. 2025
Noun
Jake makes a toast to the Black Rabbit — the staff, OG investors, and devoted VIPs that make up the court of this indie–sleaze–Studio 54 castle — just in time to watch the scene shatter in a flash of nervous gunfire. Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Sep. 2025 Snow melts and ice shatters, but the formative memories of youth stay with you. Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for shatter
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shatter
Verb
  • So, automation can be used to destroy labor or workers’ power, but it can also be used in the opposite direction.
    Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Homes, businesses and synagogues were destroyed.
    Arizona Republic, AZCentral.com, 9 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Within a few years of leaving Texas, Rauschenberg had upended everything the place had meant to him, smashing through the parochialism of small-town Southern life, where necks were broken in Jesus’ name, and families indentured or murdered.
    Hilton Als, New Yorker, 10 Nov. 2025
  • Mantis shrimps can safely smash open clam shells with their claws.
    Carl Zimmer, New York Times, 9 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • After cutting and trimming any splinters, place the stakes behind the trellis.
    Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 21 Oct. 2025
  • The revelation felt like a splinter that lodged itself in Kai’s heart.
    Johnny Dodd, PEOPLE, 11 Oct. 2025
Verb
  • However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.
    Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 11 Nov. 2025
  • So, no, women didn’t ruin the workplace.
    Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 11 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • During the closure, crews will demolish the Lister Avenue Bridge and the pedestrian bridge at Oakley Avenue over I-70.
    Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 7 Nov. 2025
  • The military showed us a map of Hamas tunnel routes Israeli forces are still discovering and demolishing in the area.
    Daniel Estrin, NPR, 7 Nov. 2025
Noun
  • Avoid handling hot shards or surfaces.
    Katie Rosenhouse, Southern Living, 9 Nov. 2025
  • Today, that can mean a stair railing sculpted from cast bronze or a chandelier made of 450 shards of selenite (both, by the way, are Henault commissions).
    Kathryn O’Shea-Evans, Robb Report, 8 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Last year’s devastating drought in the Amazon Basin was made 30 times more likely by climate change, according to a report from World Weather Attribution, a network of scientists that analyze extreme weather events.
    Laura Paddison, CNN Money, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Earlier this year, California’s devastating Eaton Fire destroyed much of Altadena, a diverse, creative community just north of Pasadena.
    Tori Latham, Robb Report, 6 Nov. 2025
Verb
  • Straight line winds can blow down trees, power lines, and damage mobile homes and other buildings.
    NC Weather Bot, Charlotte Observer, 10 Nov. 2025
  • The Buffalo Bills were left stunned in Miami on Sunday afternoon as the Dolphins blew them out 30-13 in a crucial AFC East rivalry game.
    Scott Thompson, FOXNews.com, 9 Nov. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Shatter.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shatter. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.

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