v.
Pronunciation: di- ' sp ə rs
Function: verb
Inflected Form: dis · persed ; dis · pers · ing
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin dispersus, past participle of dispergere to scatter, from dis- + spargere to scatter ― more at SPARK
Date: 14th century
transitive verb
1 a : to cause to break up <police dispersed the crowd> b : to cause to become spread widely c : to cause to evaporate or vanish <sunlight dispersing the mist>
2 : to spread or distribute from a fixed or constant source: as a archaic : DISSEMINATE b : to subject (as light) to dispersion c : to distribute (as fine particles) more or less evenly throughout a medium
intransitive verb
1 : to break up in random fashion <the crowd dispersed on request>
2 a : to become dispersed b : DISSIPATE , VANISH <the fog dispersed toward morning>
synonyms see SCATTER
– dis · persed · ly \ - ' sp ə r-s ə d-l ē , - ' sp ə rst-l ē \ adverb
– dis · pers · er noun
– dis · pers · ible \ - ' sp ə r-s ə -b ə l \ adjective