Word
disperse
Phoneticsdis·perse
US/dɪˈspɝs/
UK/dɪspˈɜːs/
Definitions
02to disappear or break up
v. to break up and slowly disappear, like smoke or clouds.
v. to cause to break up and disappear; to dissipate or vanish through scattering.
“The morning fog began to disperse as the sun got higher.”
“The heavy smoke from the factory fire took several hours to disperse, even with the help of a strong coastal breeze.”
Antonyms
03to spread information
v. to spread information or knowledge to many people.
v. to disseminate or distribute information, knowledge, or culture widely.
“The internet allows us to disperse news across the world instantly.”
“The organisation aims to disperse educational resources to remote villages that lack access to traditional schooling.”
Formal
Synonyms
04to separate light
v. to separate light into different colours.
v. to separate light into its spectral components or different wavelengths through refraction.
“A prism can disperse a beam of white light into a rainbow.”
“The glass droplets in the atmosphere disperse sunlight, creating the optical phenomenon we recognise as a rainbow.”
Technical
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“The Serbian government denied that a sonic weapon was used to panic and disperse the crowd.” “Also on Friday, a number of settlers returned to set up a tent near the site - a day after an operation to disperse them from the area.” Etymology
From Middle French disperser, from Latin dispersus, past participle of dispergō (“to scatter abroad, disperse”), from dis- (“apart”) + spargō (“to scatter”); see sparse.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.