scat ‧ ter /ˈskætə $ -ər/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive and transitive]
[ Date: 1100-1200 ; Origin: Perhaps from shatter ]
1 . if someone scatters a lot of things, or if they scatter, they are thrown or dropped over a wide area in an irregular way
scatter (something) over/around/across etc something
Scatter the onions over the fish.
The flowers fell and scattered on the ground.
2 . if 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