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# disperse

«disperse» in Mova's school dictionary: **to go away in different directions, or to make a crowd do…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (disperse, disperses, dispersed, dispersing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To disperse is to go away in different directions, or to make a crowd do this. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#m1)

2) To spread something widely over an area. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#m2)

3) (science) For light, to split into its colours, as in a prism. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#m3)

4) For fog, cloud or smoke, to thin out and disappear. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In science: seeds are dispersed by wind, water and animals; light is dispersed by a prism into a rainbow. In news: police dispersed a crowd. Phrases: «the crowd dispersed», «seed dispersal», «the fog dispersed».

### examples

- After the match, the crowd slowly dispersed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#x1)
- Dandelion seeds are dispersed by the wind. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#x2)
- Birds help disperse seeds by eating fruit. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#x3)
- By noon, the fog had dispersed. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#x4)
- A prism disperses white light into the colours of the rainbow. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#x5)
- Police told the gathering to disperse. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#x6)
- The smell dispersed when we opened the window. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#x7)
- Immediately they cocked up their tails and dispersed among the thick forests. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/#x8)

### note

Noun: «dispersal» (seed dispersal) or «dispersion» (of light). Opposite: gather, congregate. Spelling: disperse, not «disburse» (which means to pay out money).

### In the corpora

- [And he blew the horn, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/2SA.628/)
- [And I will scatter the Egyptians among the nations, and will disperse them through the countries.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/neviim/jps/EZK.793/)
- [Let thy springs be dispersed abroad, and courses of water in the streets.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.133/)
- [The lips of the wise disperse knowledge; but the heart of the foolish is not stedfast.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.417/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «disperse» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/disperse/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.