disperse

Definition of disperse

[with object]

distribute or spread over a wide area:storms can disperse seeds via high altitudes caravan sites could be dispersed among trees so as to be out of sight
go or cause to go in different directions: [no object]:the crowd dispersed [with object]:the police used tear gas to disperse the protesters
(with reference to gas, smoke, mist, or cloud) thin out or cause to thin out and disappear: [no object]:the earlier mist had dispersed [with object]:winds dispersed the radioactive cloud high in the atmosphere
Physics divide (light) into constituents of different wavelengths: the ability of a material to disperse light by refraction

[attributive] Chemistry

denoting a phase dispersed in another phase, as in a colloid: emulsions should be examined after storage for droplet size of the disperse phase

Derivatives

late Middle English: from Latin dispers- 'scattered', from the verb dispergere, from dis- 'widely' + spargere 'scatter, strew'

Definition of disperse in the US English dictionary