shat ‧ ter /ˈʃætə $ -ər/ BrE AmE verb
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Origin: Probably from an unrecorded Old English sceaterian ]
1 . [intransitive and transitive] to break suddenly into very small pieces, or to make something break in this way
shatter into
The plate hit the floor, and shattered into tiny bits.
The explosion shattered the building.
2 . [transitive] to completely destroy or ruin something such as someone’s beliefs or life:
A tragic accident shattered her dreams of Olympic glory.
A few weeks in a tiny damp room soon shattered his illusions about university life.
people whose lives have been shattered by war
3 . shatter the silence/peace if a loud noise shatters the silence or peace, it is suddenly heard:
The silence was shattered by a warning shout.
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COLLOCATIONS (for Meaning 2)
■ nouns
▪ shatter sb’s hopes
Their hopes had been shattered by the outbreak of war.
▪ shatter sb’s confidence
Public confidence has been shattered.
▪ shatter a dream (=make it impossible for someone to achieve or get something they want)
He spoke yesterday about the injury which shattered his Olympic dream.
▪ shatter sb’s illusions (=make someone realise their beliefs are wrong)
I hate to be the one to shatter your illusions, but you’re wrong.
▪ shatter an image (=make people realise the idea they have about something is wrong)
The book shattered the image of the contented American housewife.
▪ shatter a myth (=show that an idea was completely wrong)
Economic studies have shattered the myth that population growth is bad for a nation’s economy.
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THESAURUS
■ to become broken
▪ break verb [intransitive] to become damaged and separate into pieces:
Plastic breaks quite easily.
▪ smash verb [intransitive] to break after being hit with a lot of force:
The bowl smashed as it hit the floor.
▪ shatter verb [intransitive] to break into a lot of small pieces:
The glass shattered all over the pavement.
▪ crack verb [intransitive] if something cracks, a line appears on the surface, which means that it could later break into separate pieces:
The ice was starting to crack.
▪ burst verb [intransitive] if a tyre, balloon, pipe etc bursts, it gets a hole and air or liquid suddenly comes out of it:
She blew up the balloon until it burst.
▪ split verb [intransitive] to break in a straight line:
The damp had caused the wood to split.
▪ crumble verb [intransitive] to break into a powder or a lot of small pieces:
The cork just crumbled in my hand.