Dispersion: meaning, example and synonyms
Dispersionn. The spreading or scattering of things or people over a wide area.
Example
The dispersion of the seeds by migrating birds explains why the shrub now grows on islands hundreds of kilometers from its original valley.
- Part of speech
- noun
- Synonyms
- scattering, spread, diffusion, distribution
- Antonyms
- concentration, gathering, convergence
- Memory tip
- dis (apart) + spersus (scattered): scattered far apart.
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Check yourself: Dispersion in context
Ecologists tracking the invasive beetle found that its ______ across the region followed the highways, as larvae hitched rides in shipments of firewood carried far from the original outbreak.
Answer: dispersion. Beetles carried far along highways describes spreading over a wide area: dispersion. A foible is a quirk, dexterity is manual skill, and a reproach is blame; none describes spreading.
When the prism split the beam into a band of colors on the far wall, the students saw how the ______ of white light reveals the separate wavelengths hidden within it.
Answer: dispersion. A prism spreading white light into separate colors is dispersion. Strife (conflict), a contrivance (clever device) and a foible (quirk) don't name the scattering of light.