di ‧ sperse /dɪˈspɜːs $ -ɜːrs/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive and transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: French ; Origin: disperser , from Latin dispergere 'to scatter' ]
1 . if a group of people disperse or are dispersed, they go away in different directions:
Police used tear gas to disperse the crowd.
2 . if something disperses or is dispersed, it spreads in different directions over a wide area:
The clouds dispersed as quickly as they had gathered.