disperse
To disperse is to break up a gathering and spread it out until it thins away — movement from concentration to diffusion. A crowd disperses when a concert ends; wind disperses seeds and smoke; light disperses through a prism. The word works both ways — things disperse on their own or are dispersed by some force — but it leans toward an even, gradual spreading that often fades to nothing, rather than a sudden, random fling. What was massed in one place ends up thinly distributed across many.
- iThe crowd dispersed quietly once the fireworks ended.
- iiMany plants rely on the wind to disperse their seeds across long distances.
- iiiAs the morning mist gradually dispersed, the far ridge began to emerge.
- the crowd dispersed
- disperse seeds
- widely dispersed
- order protesters to disperse
- disperse across the region
Family dispersal (noun) · dispersion (noun) · dispersed (adjective)
=scatter, spread, dissipate, distribute, break up
| Pair | The difference |
|---|---|
| disperse vs accumulate | things draw into one growing mass → accumulate; a mass breaks apart and spreads → disperse. |
| disperse vs amalgamate | separate organizations drawn together into one → amalgamate; a gathering spread out thin across a wide area → disperse. |
| disperse vs amass | a great deal drawn into one place → amass; a mass broken up and spread → disperse. |
| disperse vs assemble | fit parts together, or gather in one place → assemble; spread a gathering out thin over a wide area → disperse. |
| disperse vs blend | mix things into one seamless whole → blend; spread a gathering out thin across a wide area → disperse. |
Also compared with build up, cluster, coalesce, coincide, collect, combine, come together, concentrate, congregate, consolidate, converge, disband, dissipate, dissolve, diverge, divide, fuse, gather, integrate, intersect, join, meet, merge, pile up, radiate, scatter, separate, split, unite
A staple of TOEFL biology and chemistry lectures — seed dispersal, the dispersal of populations, light dispersing through a prism. IELTS reading passages use it for migration and urban growth. The noun form 'dispersal' is just as common in academic texts, so learn the pair together and notice whether the context is literal (particles) or social (crowds). Distinguish it from scatter: disperse suggests an even thinning-out, while scatter stresses sudden, random spreading.