diffuse

dif·fuse  (d-fyz)

v. dif·fused, dif·fus·ing, dif·fus·es

v.tr.

1. To pour out and cause to spread freely.

2. To spread about or scatter; disseminate.

3. To make less brilliant; soften.

v.intr.

1. To become widely dispersed; spread out.

2. Physics To undergo diffusion.

adj. (d-fys)

1. Widely spread or scattered; not concentrated.

2. Characterized by verbosity; wordy. See Synonyms at wordy.

---

[From Middle English, dispersed, from Anglo-Norman diffus, from Latin diffsus, past participle of diffundere, to spread : dis-, out, apart; see dis- + fundere, to pour; see gheu- in Indo-European roots.]

---

dif·fusely (-fysl) adv.

dif·fuseness (-fysns) n.

---

diffuse

Verb

[-fusing, -fused]

1. to spread over a wide area

2. Physics to cause to undergo diffusion

Adjective

1. spread out over a wide area

2. lacking conciseness [Latin diffusus spread abroad]

diffusible adj
diffuser n

USAGE: Avoid confusion with defuse.

Thesaurus

Verb	1.	diffuse - move outward; "The soldiers fanned out" fan out, spread out, spread spread, distribute - distribute or disperse widely; "The invaders spread their language all over the country" percolate - spread gradually; "Light percolated into our house in the morning" creep - grow or spread, often in such a way as to cover (a surface); "ivy crept over the walls of the university buildings" bleed, run - be diffused; "These dyes and colors are guaranteed not to run" mantle - spread over a surface, like a mantle
	2.	diffuse - spread or diffuse through; "An atmosphere of distrust has permeated this administration"; "music penetrated the entire building"; "His campaign was riddled with accusations and personal attacks" imbue, permeate, pervade, interpenetrate, riddle, penetrate penetrate, perforate - pass into or through, often by overcoming resistance; "The bullet penetrated her chest" spiritise, spiritize - imbue with a spirit
	3.	diffuse - cause to become widely known; "spread information"; "circulate a rumor"; "broadcast the news" disseminate, pass around, circulate, broadcast, circularise, circularize, spread, disperse, propagate, distribute publicize, bare, publicise, air - make public; "She aired her opinions on welfare" podcast - distribute (multimedia files) over the internet for playback on a mobile device or a personal computer sow - introduce into an environment; "sow suspicion or beliefs" circulate, go around, spread - become widely known and passed on; "the rumor spread"; "the story went around in the office" popularise, popularize, vulgarise, vulgarize, generalise, generalize - cater to popular taste to make popular and present to the general public; bring into general or common use; "They popularized coffee in Washington State"; "Relativity Theory was vulgarized by these authors" carry, run - include as the content; broadcast or publicize; "We ran the ad three times"; "This paper carries a restaurant review"; "All major networks carried the press conference"
Adj.	1.	diffuse - spread out; not concentrated in one place; "a large diffuse organization" distributed - spread out or scattered about or divided up
	2.	diffuse - (of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected diffused, soft
	3.	diffuse - lacking conciseness; "a diffuse historical novel" prolix - tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length; "editing a prolix manuscript"; "a prolix lecturer telling you more than you want to know"

---

diffuse

verb 1. spread, distribute, scatter, circulate, disperse, dispense, dispel, dissipate, propagate, disseminate

adjective 2. spread-out, scattered, dispersed, unconcentrated << OPPOSITE concentrated

adjective 3. rambling, loose, vague, meandering, waffling (informal) long-winded, wordy, discursive, verbose, prolix, maundering, digressive, diffusive, circumlocutory << OPPOSITE concise

USAGE This word is quite commonly misused instead of defuse, when talking about calming down a situation. However, the words are very different in meaning and should never be used as alternatives to each other.

Translations

diffuse [dɪˈfjuːs] adj → difuso

vt [dɪˈfjuːz] → difundir

---

diffuse adj [dɪˈfjuːs] → diffus(e)

vt [dɪˈfjuːz] → diffuser, répandre

---

diffuse [dɪˈfjuːs] adj → diffus

vt → verbreiten

---

diffuse adj [dɪˈfjuːs] → diffuso/a

vt [dɪˈfjuːz] → diffondere, emanare