scatterscat‧ter /ˈskætə $ -ər/ ●●○ verb [intransitive, transitive] 
Scatter the onions over the fish. The flowers fell and scattered on the ground.2if a group of people or animals scatter, or if something scatters them, they move quickly in different directions: The sound of gunfire made the crowd scatter in all directions. → scattered, scattering
WORD ORIGINscatter
Origin:
1100-1200 Perhaps from shatterVERB TABLE
scatter
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | scatter |
| he, she, it | scatters | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | scattered |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have scattered |
| he, she, it | has scattered | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had scattered |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will scatter |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have scattered |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am scattering |
| he, she, it | is scattering | |
| you, we, they | are scattering | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was scattering |
| you, we, they | were scattering | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been scattering |
| he, she, it | has been scattering | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been scattering |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be scattering |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been scattering |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- At the sound of gunfire, the crowd scattered in all directions.
- Soldiers used tear gas to scatter the crowd.
- The demonstrators suddenly turned and scattered in all directions.
- The storm scattered tiles everywhere.
- There was a sudden crack of gunfire, and the crowd scattered.
- When a police van drove by, the boys scattered.
- Why don't you scatter a few cushions around the room?
- And there may be a few scattered works where applause would just feel wrong.
- I suppose they were rallying the scattered army.
- Small Whites scatter through the flowery headlands and in this light seem to have an almost violet glow about them.
- The central green had cars scattered all around it.
- Then they scattered, stopping to read in the middle of Congress Street one name and then the other.
- Today the last condor nests lie scattered on the ledges, and the last three birds left in the wild are males.
- Valleys in the Yorkshire Dales are scattered with dozens of these field barns, virtually all disused.
Longman Language Activatorwhen a crowd of people leave a place
if police or soldiers disperse a crowd, or if a crowd disperses , all the people in the crowd leave in different directions: · Twenty five officers were injured when police moved in to disperse a crowd of 200-300 youths.· The crowd began dispersing as soon as the ambulance had driven away.· The arrival of armed police made the students disperse.
if a crowd scatters ,the people in the crowd leave quickly in different directions, especially because they are frightened: · There was a sudden crack of gunfire, and the crowd scattered.· The demonstrators suddenly turned and scattered in all directions.
when people go in many directions: spread northwards/eastwards etc · Refugees have entered the south of the country and are spreading northwards.
if a group of people scatters , everyone suddenly moves in different directions, especially in order to escape from danger: · When a police van drove by, the boys scattered.· At the sound of gunfire, the crowd scattered in all directions.
if a group of people spreads out , each person moves into a position where they are as far from the others as possible: · "Spread out!" the sergeant shouted. "I want the whole area searched."· I'm sure you'd be more comfortable if you spread yourselves out a little.spread out across/through etc: · Members of the tribe are spread out over hundreds of square miles.
if a group of people who are searching for someone or something fans out , they spread themselves across an area in order to make sure that they search the whole area: · The men were told to fan out and begin the search.· Scores of FBI agents fanned out on Monday to interview potential witnesses.
if a group of people split up , they decide not to stay together as a group because they will be able to move faster, find something more easily etc if they are alone or in smaller groups: · The U.N. team split up to inspect several sites in the south of the country.split up into groups/teams/twos etc: · We'd have a much better chance of finding the child if we split up into groups.
to spread things over a wide area · The wind spreads the seeds so that the plants can reproduce.spread something over/across/through etc · A single tractor was slowly spreading fertilizer over a huge wheatfield.
to spread things over a wide area in an irregular and unplanned way: · The storm scattered tiles everywhere.scatter something over/around/across etc: · Why don't you scatter a few cushions around the room?
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES His ashes were scattered at sea.
1if someone scatters a lot of things, or if they scatter, they are thrown or dropped over a wide area in an irregular wayscatter (something) over/around/across etc something· Parts of the plane were scattered over a wide area.
His ashes were scattered at sea.· The wreckage was strewn over a large area.
· The equipment was used to clear the scattered wreckage of the two trains.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· She recognized none of the hangings, the furniture, the instruments scattered about.· Coal carried by the freight train was scattered about in heaps.· The marble floor was scattered about with individual rugs.· The lifts are scattered about, and each one serves only selected floors.· She went back out into the daylight and began to gather together some of the larger rocks that were scattered about.· There was blood everywhere and fragments of bone, scattered about like chips of chalk in the puddles.· Empty black plastic sacks are scattered about, together with piles of crumpled brown paper.
· There was blood all over the floor and rings scattered around.· Strange-colored tailings ponds and old, rusted equipment are scattered around.· Vern made for a bench in a concrete space with trees and shrubs scattered around in pots, and sat down.· The worn, faded furniture, the dingy wallpaper, the papers scattered around, the smell of alcohol.· Second-hand machinery was scattered around the yard with new parts and modifications arriving daily.· But each one had actually hit one of the few rocks scattered around.· There were plenty of books and magazines scattered around, but none seemed to relate to any academic studies she could identify.
· Bits of wire and tin were scattered everywhere.· These men were scattered everywhere, on the ground and also in buildings and tents.· But what he had taken at first for raindrops on the wagon floor were actually pennies, halfpennies and farthings scattered everywhere.· Waves up to 30 feet tore away the beachfront of the Huatulco Sheraton and other bays, leaving tree limbs scattered everywhere.· There were huge gouges where the earth had been scooped out, and dirt scattered everywhere.· Fresh gray dirt was scattered everywhere as evidence of our work.· Books, letters, clothes, scattered everywhere.· There are huge amounts of rubbish scattered everywhere and that is appalling.
· Although parts were scattered over the surrounding fields, the main body of the plane had landed in one piece.· The basins are scattered over 20,000 square miles and fed by underground rivers which extend through Nevada, Utah and California.· Chunks of blue-green stuff flaked off and scattered over the floor.· It's called Oxford Artweek, it lasts a fortnight and has 200 sites scattered over the county.· Stir in the parsley, then spoon into a serving dish and scatter over the remaining spring onions.· It will have to serve more people scattered over a larger area.· He has one of them, the remaining four having been scattered over the planet for security.
· The rocks were widely scattered in the process.· Occasionally, the only possible controls are widely scattered or are unlikely to cooperate with a program that offers nothing in return.· Most of our countries are very small and are widely scattered.
NOUN· It will have to serve more people scattered over a larger area.· Thirty-seven golf courses are scattered about the area.· Natural resources were scattered over vast areas.· At the other end of the scale of desirability are thinly scattered customers in remote areas, and those in poor neighbourhoods.· A motley collection of tawdry items was scattered over an area at least four feet square.· All windows were blown out and large pieces of metal and wood were scattered over a wide area.· The police are scattered around the area with several pairs of squad cars and at least three Black Marias.
· The New Zealanders, appropriately garbed in funereal black, arrive next week to scatter the ashes.· There was initially an extreme reluctance to scatter the ashes.· Some churches are happy to scatter the ashes in the graveyard or bury them according to the family's wishes.· And his family are hoping to scatter Mr Corbett's ashes at Anfield, where his father Dennis also came to rest.· The weather had turned a chill grey, and a brisk wind scattered the ashes of half-a-hundred fires.
· Over eighty-five percent of these are scattered throughout the country in small villages and hamlets.· The nuclear arsenal of the former Soviet Union was scattered among four new countries with few safeguards.· There have been scattered strikes around the country, but this was by far the largest.· Other transplant colonies are scattered throughout the country in places such as Alamos, Sonora and Puerto Vallarta.· The rest are scattered throughout the country.
· Although parts were scattered over the surrounding fields, the main body of the plane had landed in one piece.· They drove off the parliamentarians they scattered across the field.
· Chunks of blue-green stuff flaked off and scattered over the floor.· Bud Simmons got up, scattering recipes to the floor, and spoke in a low voice to Harry Nelson.· He then scattered it on pub floors or gave it to friends to buy drugs.· As the cut tresses lay scattered on the floor by the chair, Heather scrutinized the effect in the mirror.· The cigarettes scattered all around the floor.· Basins and buckets were scattered on the floor next to boxes of plastic bags and rubber bands.· The contents of all of them had been pulled out and scattered all over the floor.· She didn't care that the clothes he had flung out of the night before were scattered on floor and chairs.
· The diplomat proceeded to scatter crumbs on the ground and attract the attentions of sparrows and pigeons.· Only a few blocks of white stone lay scattered on the ground in front of the Buddhas' huge niches.· It smashed, and machinery scattered over the ground.
· A few scattered lights burned on the ridge of low hills as he arrived in the cove, long after nightfall.· Finally, without scattered light or atmosphere to conduct and convect energy, shadow areas on the Moon are extremely cold.· It takes more particles to scatter red light.
· As the sun strikes their heads it plays for a while, scatters silver seed and dances away again, unnoticed.· It spreads by roots and by a scattering of its seeds.
· Eloise would be burnt and scattered to the winds, the evil dispersed, spread out, diluted.· Today that team breaks up and scatters to the winds like a dandelion.· Tonight, scatter half into the wind to the north, the south, the east and the west.
· The stuff is scattered all over the world, but it's coming.· But the job losses will hit mostly sales and support staffs scattered throughout the world.· The World Distribution of Volcanoes Volcanoes are not scattered randomly around the world.· Sanderson, now 36, scattered her World Cup opponents in the opening round, launching a throw of 61.86 metres.
VERB· The sea is potentially very destructive, with underwater remains being broken and scattered by currents, waves, or tidal action.· The ice breaks, scattering water birds.· Today that team breaks up and scatters to the winds like a dandelion.· For a while he stood on the soft sand, watching the waves break and the sandpipers scatter under them.
· Only a few blocks of white stone lay scattered on the ground in front of the Buddhas' huge niches.· Today the last condor nests lie scattered on the ledges, and the last three birds left in the wild are males.· They lay scattered here and there all over the yard, in the corn-house, smoke-house, and slave shanties.· Their wounded had been generally removed, while the dead lay thickly scattered in all directions and positions.· Plates and barbells lie scattered in lazy profusion.· As the cut tresses lay scattered on the floor by the chair, Heather scrutinized the effect in the mirror.· Empty gasoline containers lay scattered around her.
Scatter the onions over the fish. The flowers fell and scattered on the ground.2if a group of people or animals scatter, or if something scatters them, they move quickly in different directions: The sound of gunfire made the crowd scatter in all directions. → scattered, scattering