/skat"euhr ing/ , adj.
1. distributed or occurring here and there at irregular intervals; scattered.
2. straggling, as an assemblage of parts.
3. (of votes) cast in small numbers for various candidates.
4. distributing, dispersing, or separating.
n.
5. a small, scattered number or quantity.
6. Physics. the process in which a wave or beam of particles is diffused or deflected by collisions with particles of the medium that it traverses. Cf. elastic scattering, Rayleigh scattering .
[ 1300-50; ME; see SCATTER, -ING 2 , -ING 1 ]