disperses

verb

present tense third-person singular of disperse
1
as in dissipates
to go off in different directions and cease to exist as a body or unified whole the crowd dispersed once the show ended

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in scatters
to cause (members of a group) to move widely apart the family of the missing woman dispersed searchers to all corners of the national park

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in disbands
to cease to exist or cause to cease to exist as a group or organization the campaign staff dispersed almost immediately after the election

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of disperses A lot of the time, Deadline first exclusively breaks news that disperses to other outlets and, eventually, social media. — The Deadline Team, Deadline, 14 Oct. 2026 Dark skies as a natural resource After Kelsey speaks, the crowd disperses to already set-up array of telescopes. — Sean MacAday, Sacbee.com, 19 Sep. 2026 The transfer station disperses collected waste to Waste Management facilities. — Caden Perry, jsonline.com, 3 Sep. 2026 Used in the group’s previous drone research, this landing gear disperses energy to reduce impact and overcomes multiple engineering challenges. — Tim Hornyak, IEEE Spectrum, 18 Aug. 2026 As the Night Court’s Inner Circle disperses far and wide, desperate for any advantage against Koschei and his mighty allies, peace hangs by a fragile thread. — Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 17 Aug. 2026 This one has built-in UPF 50-plus sun protection and HydroFreeze X technology that wicks and disperses sweat, using moisture and airflow to create a cooling effect. — Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 14 Aug. 2026 The Shark Lab eliminated sight (limited horizontal visibility) and odor (disperses too quickly in water) as the reason a shark might react from so far away. — Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times, 30 July 2026 The sounds of fighting draw closer; the dinner party disperses. — Literary Hub, 14 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disperses
  1. dissipates
  2. scatters
  3. disbands
  4. disappears
  5. dissolves
  6. fades
Verb
  • The effect dissipates somewhat whenever Cahyono resorts to less suggestive, more blatantly surreal imagery.
    — Kambole Campbell, Variety, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Then life returns to normal, the energy dissipates, and those hours in shul leave little mark on the year itself.
    — Risa Polansky Shiman, Sun Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of dissipates
Verb
  • The most powerful visual effect is the ashy remains of the playground victims, still intact—until a shock wave scatters the ashes to the wind.
    — ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2026
  • During the eclipse, Earth’s shadow will appear reddish orange on the lunar surface because of the way Earth’s atmosphere scatters light from the sun.
    — Denise Chow, NBC news, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of scatters
Verb
  • And once the dog is found, the Search Party network disbands.
    — Mike Feibus, USA Today, 4 Oct. 2025
  • DiCaprio plays Bob, a revolutionary in hiding with his teen daughter (Chase Infiniti) after his activist group the French 75 disbands in chaos.
    — Matt Donnelly, Variety, 25 Sep. 2025
Definition of disbands
Verb
  • Your teenager walks in the door, barely says hello and disappears into their room.
    — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 15 Oct. 2026
  • That's helpful when the remote disappears somewhere in the couch.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of disappears
Verb
  • The sherbet-like balm melts into a silky oil that dissolves makeup, sunscreen, and the day’s buildup, while olive and jojoba oils and antioxidant-rich acerola, cranberry, and pomegranate extracts leave skin feeling soft and refreshed.
    — Christa Joanna Lee, Allure, 6 Oct. 2026
  • After things go awry in the Congo, the family in The Poisonwood Bible dissolves readily.
    — Sam Worley, Vulture, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of dissolves
Verb
  • Duncan says the initial shock usually fades after a round or two, and cycling back and forth multiple times yields better results.
    — Samantha Agate, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The stigma fades Adults playing with toys used to be a punchline.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of fades

Browse Nearby Words

dispersed
disperses
dispersing
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Cite this Entry

“Disperses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disperses. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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