Hypertext Webster Gateway: "scattered"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Scattered \Scat"tered\, a.
1. Dispersed; dissipated; sprinkled, or loosely spread.
2. (Bot.) Irregular in position; having no regular order; as,
scattered leaves. -- {Scat"tered*ly}, adv. --
{Scat"tered*ness}, n.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Scatter \Scat"ter\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Scattered}; p. pr. &
vb. n. {Scattering}.] [OE. scateren. See {Shatter}.]
1. To strew about; to sprinkle around; to throw down loosely;
to deposit or place here and there, esp. in an open or
sparse order.
And some are scattered all the floor about.
--Chaucer.
Why should my muse enlarge on Libyan swains, Their
scattered cottages, and ample plains? --Dryden.
Teach the glad hours to scatter, as they fly, Soft
quiet, gentle love, and endless joy. --Prior.
2. To cause to separate in different directions; to reduce
from a close or compact to a loose or broken order; to
dissipate; to disperse.
Scatter and disperse the giddy Goths. --Shak.
3. Hence, to frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow; as, to
scatter hopes, plans, or the like.
Syn: To disperse; dissipate; spread; strew.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
scattered
adj 1: occurring or distributed over widely spaced and irregular
intervals in time or space; "scattered showers";
"scattered villages"
2: not close together in time; "isolated instances of
rebellion"; "scattered fire"; "a stray bullet grazed his
thigh" [syn: {isolated}, {stray}]
3: being distributed here and there without order; "scattered
leaves littered the sidewalk"; "don't forget to pick up
the clothes lying strewn all over the floor" [syn: {strewn}]
4: lacking orderly continuity; "a confused set of
instructions"; "a confused dream about the end of the
world"; "disconnected fragments of a story"; "scattered
thoughts" [syn: {confused}, {disconnected}, {disjointed},
{disordered}, {garbled}, {illogical}, {unconnected}]
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