dispersed

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dis·perse

(dĭ-spûrs′)

v. dis·persed, dis·pers·ing, dis·pers·es

v.tr.

a. To drive off or scatter in different directions: The police dispersed the crowd. See Synonyms at scatter.

b. To strew or distribute widely: The airplane dispersed the leaflets over the city.

2. To cause to attenuate and disappear: The sun dispersed the fog.

a. To separate (light) into spectral rays.

b. To distribute (particles) evenly throughout a medium.

v.intr.

1. To separate and move in different directions; scatter: The crowd dispersed once the concert ended.

2. To attenuate and vanish; dissipate: The storm clouds had dispersed by noon.

[Middle English dispersen, from Old French disperser, from Latin dispergere, dispers-, to disperse : dis-, apart; see dis- + spargere, to scatter.]

dis·pers′ed·ly (-spûr′sĭd-lē) adv.

dis·pers′er n.

dis·pers′i·ble adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

dispersed

(dɪˈspɜːst)

adj

scattered, separated, or spread through a large area

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

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Adj.

dispersed - distributed or spread over a considerable extent; "has ties with many widely dispersed friends"; "eleven million Jews are spread throughout Europe"

spread

distributed - spread out or scattered about or divided up

dispersed

adjective spread-out, extensive, scattered, sprawling, expansive, fanned out his widely dispersed business

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

Translations

disperso

dileguato disperso

dispersed

[dɪˈspɜː^rst] adj (= scattered) [population, community] → dispersé(e); [groups] → épars(e)

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

References in classic literature ?

And whatever you may do or provide against, they never forget that name or their privileges unless they are disunited or dispersed, but at every chance they immediately rally to them, as Pisa after the hundred years she had been held in bondage by the Florentines.

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Here and there is born a Saint Theresa, foundress of nothing, whose loving heart-beats and sobs after an unattained goodness tremble off and are dispersed among hindrances, instead of centring in some long-recognizable deed.

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The smoke above it had not yet dispersed. Two mounted Frenchmen, probably adjutants, were galloping up the hill.

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During the morning I attended the motions of the cottagers, and when they were dispersed in various occupations, I slept; the remainder of the day was spent in observing my friends.

Men who before this change seemed to have been hid in caves dispersed themselves and were employed in various arts of cultivation.

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'Arva' is a root very generally dispersed over the South Seas, and from it is extracted a juice, the effects of which upon the system are at first stimulating in a moderate degree; but it soon relaxes the muscles, and exerting a narcotic influence produces a luxurious sleep.

All that day the drums resounded, the priests chanted, and the multitude feasted and roared till sunset, when the throng dispersed, and the Taboo Groves were again abandoned to quiet and repose.

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We lost sight of him; the smoke dispersed; he was on foot, upright; his horse was killed.

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Yet they spread themselves in various directions when they dispersed in the afternoon, made no appointment for reassembling, had no definite purpose or design, and indeed, for anything they knew, were scattered beyond the hope of future union.

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These hordes of villains being broken up and dispersed, Rose had betaken himself to the wilderness, and associated himself with the Crows, whose predatory habits were congenial with his own, had married a woman of the tribe, and, in short, had identified himself with those vagrant savages.

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The sad thoughts with which this incident naturally left me were at length and suddenly dispersed, as sad thoughts not infrequently are, by a petticoat.

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The little knot of people towards Chobham dispersed. There was scarcely an intimation of movement from the pit.