Search the Dictionary

To scatter abroad. [Obs.] Holland.

To make haste; to conclude an affair; to finish a matter of business. They have dispatched with Pompey. Shak.

To drive away by scattering, or so to cause to vanish; to clear away; to banish; to dissipate; as, to dispel a cloud, vapors, cares, doubts, illusions. [Satan] gently raised their fainting courage, and dispelled their fears. Milton. I saw myself the lambent easy light Gild the brown horror, and dispel the night. Dryden…

To give dispensation. He [the pope] can also dispense in all matters of ecclesiastical law. Addis & Arnold (Cath. Dict. ) To dispense with. (a) To permit the neglect or omission of, as a form, a ceremony, an oath; to suspend the operation of, as a law; to give up, release, or do without, as services, attention, etc.; t…

To scatter; to sprinkle. [Obs.] Odorous water was Disperpled lightly on my head and neck. Chapman.

The act or result of dispersing or scattering; dispersion. Darwin.

To scatter abroad; to drive to different parts; to distribute; to diffuse; to spread; as, the Jews are dispersed among all nations. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge. Prov. xv. 7. Two lions, in the still, dark night, A herd of beeves disperse. Cowper.

Scattered. -- Dis*pers"ed*ly, adv. -- Dis*pers"ed*ness, n. Dispersed harmony (Mus.), harmony in which the tones composing the chord are widely separated, as by an octave or more.

The act or process of scattering or dispersing, or the state of being scattered or separated; as, the Jews in their dispersion retained their rites and ceremonies; a great dispersion of the human family took place at the building of Babel. The days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished. Jer. xxv. 3…

ut of possession, wrongfully or otherwise, of one who is in possession of a freehold, no matter in what title; -- called also ouster.

oneous; to confute; to refute. That false supposition I advanced in order to disprove it. Atterbury.

ic inquiry into, or discussion of, any subject; a full examination or investigation of a matter, with the arguments and facts bearing upon it; elaborate essay; dissertation. For accurate research or grave disquisition he was not well qualified. Macaulay.

by disruption; breaking through; bursting; as, the disruptive discharge of an electrical battery. Nichol.

cism; to divide and examine minutely. This paragraph . . . I have dissected for a sample. Atterbury.

To sow broadcast or as seed; to scatter for growth and propagation, like seed; to spread abroad; to diffuse; as, principles, ideas, opinions, and errors are disseminated when they are spread abroad for propagation.

Occurring in small portions scattered through some other substance.

nating, or the state of being disseminated; diffusion for propagation and permanence; a scattering or spreading abroad, as of ideas, beliefs, etc. The universal dissemination of those writings. Wayland.

Capable of being scattered or dissipated. [R.] The heat of those plants is very dissipable. Bacon.

To scatter completely; to disperse and cause to disappear; -- used esp. of the dispersion of things that can never again be collected or restored. Dissipated those foggy mists of error. Selden. I soon dissipated his fears. Cook. The extreme tendency of civilization is to dissipate all intellectual energy. Hazlitt.…

Squandered; scattered. "Dissipated wealth." Johnson.