shatter
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to break suddenly into many very small pieces.
v.to cause something to break suddenly and violently into many small fragments.
Simple“The glass bowl hit the floor and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces.”
In context“The high-velocity impact caused the windshield to shatter instantly, showering the interior of the vehicle with safety glass.”
- 02 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to completely destroy something like a dream, a belief, or a feeling.
v.to destroy or ruin an abstract concept, such as a hope, peace, or a reputation.
Simple“The news of the accident shattered her hopes for a peaceful holiday.”
In context“The sudden economic downturn shattered the company's ambitious plans for international expansion within the first quarter.”
Antonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
v.to make someone feel very upset, shocked, or tired.
v.to exhaust or emotionally distress someone to the point of collapse.
Simple“The long journey and the bad news completely shattered him.”
In context“Witnessing the devastation of his childhood home left him emotionally shattered for months following the disaster.”
- 04 C2 Proficiency
v.when seeds fall off a plant naturally after they become ripe.
v.to drop seeds prematurely or upon ripening, often used in the context of crop loss.
Simple“If the wheat is not harvested soon, the grain will begin to shatter.”
In context“Agricultural researchers are developing new hybrids that are less prone to shatter during mechanical harvesting in dry conditions.”
UsageThe verb is intransitive in this botanical context.
- 05 C2 Proficiency
n.a hard, glass-like form of cannabis used as a drug.
n.a brittle, translucent cannabis extract produced through specific solvent extraction methods.
Simple“The police seized a large amount of shatter during the raid.”
In context“The potency of shatter is significantly higher than traditional flower, posing different risks for inexperienced users.”
Synonyms
“Filip Hrgovic shatters Moses Itauma's world-title dream as the Briton appears to punch himself out in an extraordinary heavyweight world-title contest in London.”
From Middle English schateren (“to scatter, dash”), an assibilated form of Middle English scateren ("to scatter"; see scatter), from Old English scaterian, from Proto-Germanic *skat- (“to smash, scatter”), perhaps ultimately imitative. Cognate with Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”), Low German schateren, Albanian shkatërroj (“to destroy, devastate”). Doublet of scatter.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.