Disperse

• POS: Adjective, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: dis=perse

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Disperse, v.
1 intr. & tr. go, send, drive, or distribute in different directions or over a wide area.
2 a intr. (of people at a meeting etc.) leave and go their various ways. b tr. cause to do this.
3 tr. send to or station at separate points.
4 tr. put in circulation; disseminate.
5 tr. Chem. distribute (small particles) uniformly in a medium.
6 tr. Physics divide (white light) into its coloured constituents.

Derivative

dispersable adj. dispersal n. disperser n. dispersible adj. dispersive adj.

Etymology

ME f. L dispergere dispers- (as DIS-, spargere scatter)

THESAURUS

Disperse

administer, atomize, be consumed, be gone, bend, bestrew, bias, branch, branch out, break into pieces, break to pieces, break up, broadcast, cease, cease to be, cease to exist, circulate, circumfuse, crash, crook, crunch, crush, curve, cut to pieces, deactivate, deal, deal out, debrief, deflect, dematerialize, demob, demobilize, demolish, depart, deploy, detach, deviate, die, die away, die out, diffract, diffuse, disappear, disband, disburse, discharge, disintegrate, disjoin, dismiss, disorganize, dispel, dispense, dispose, dispread, disrupt, disseminate, dissipate, dissolve, distort, distribute, diverge, divert, divide, divvy, do a fade-out, dogleg, dole, dole out, dwindle, ease, ease off, emanate, erode, evanesce, evaporate, exit, expand, extend, fade, fade away, fade out, fan, fan out, fission, flare, flee, fly, fragment, free, give out, go, go away, go separate ways, grind, hairpin, hide, issue, leave no trace, leave the scene, let go, let up, loose, loosen, make mincemeat of, measure out, melt, melt away, mete, mete out, mince, muster out, open, open up, outspread, outstretch, overgrow, overrun, overscatter, oversow, overspread, parcel out, part, part company, partition, pass, pass around, pass away, pass out, pay out, perish, portion out, propagate, publish, pull, pulverize, radiate, ramify, ray, refract, relax, release, retail, retire from sight, rout, scatter, send away, send off, separate, shatter, shiver, sink, sink away, skew, slack, slack off, slacken, smash, smash up, sow, sow broadcast, splay, splinter, split up, spoon out, spraddle, sprangle, sprawl, spread, spread like wildfire, spread out, squash, squish, strew, suffer an eclipse, turn, twist, unfold, unglue, unleash, unstick, utter, vanish, vanish from sight, warp, waste, waste away, wear away, widen, zigzag

ROGET THESAURUS

Disperse

Waste

VB spend, expend, use, consume, swallow up, exhaust, impoverish, spill, drain, empty, disperse, cast away, fool away, muddle away, throw away, fling away, fritter away, burn the candle at both ends, waste, squander, waste its sweetness on the desert air, cast one's bread upon the waters, cast pearls before swine, employ a steam engine to crack a nut, waste powder and shot, break a butterfly on a wheel, labor in vain, cut blocks with a razor, pour water into a sieve, leak, run to waste, ebb, melt away, run dry, dry up.

Disjunction

VB be disjoined, come off, fall off, come to pieces, fall to pieces, peel off, get loose, disjoin, disconnect, disengage, disunite, dissociate, dispair, divorce, part, dispart, detach, separate, cut off, rescind, segregate, set apart, keep apart, insulate, isolate, throw out of gear, cut adrift, loose, unloose, undo, unbind, unchain, unlock, unpack, unravel, disentangle, set free, sunder, divide, subdivide, sever, dissever, abscind, circumcise, cut, incide, incise, saw, snip, nib, nip, cleave, rive, rend, slit, split, splinter, chip, crack, snap, break, tear, burst, rend, rend asunder, rend in twain, wrench, rupture, shatter, shiver, cranch, crunch, craunch, chop, cut up, rip up, hack, hew, slash, whittle, haggle, hackle, discind, lacerate, scamble, mangle, gash, hash, slice, cut up, carve, dissect, anatomize, dislimb, take to pieces, pull to pieces, pick to pieces, tear to pieces, tear to tatters, tear piecemeal, tear limb from limb, divellicate, skin, disintegrate, dismember, disbranch, disband, disperse, dislocate, disjoint, break up, mince, comminute, apportion, part, part company, separate, leave.

Decomposition

VB decompose, decompound, analyze, disembody, dissolve, resolve into its elements, separate into its elements, electrolyze, dissect, decentralize, break up, disperse, unravel, crumble into dust.

Dispersion

VB disperse, scatter, sow, broadcast, disseminate, diffuse, shed, spread, bestrew, overspread, dispense, disband, disembody, dismember, distribute, apportion, blow off, let out, dispel, cast forth, draught off, strew, straw, strow, ted, spirtle, cast, sprinkle, issue, deal out, retail, utter, resperse, intersperse, set abroach, circumfuse, turn adrift, cast adrift, scatter to the winds, spread like wildfire, disperse themselves.

Divergence

VB diverge, divaricate, radiate, ramify, branch off, glance off, file off, fly off, fly off at a tangent, spread, scatter, disperse, deviate, part.