Verb

(en verb)

To divert the attention of.

* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 10, author=David Ornstein, work=BBC Sport

, title= Arsenal 1-0 Everton , passage=While Gunners boss Arsene Wenger had warned his players against letting the pre-match festivities distract them from the task at hand, they clearly struggled for fluency early on.}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Travels and travails , passage=Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.}}

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Verb

(intransitive) To scatter in different directions

The Jews are dispersed among all nations.

* Bible, Proverbs xv. 7

The lips of the wise disperse knowledge.

* Cowper

Two lions, in the still, dark night, / A herd of beeves disperse .

(intransitive) To break up and disappear; to dissipate

(intransitive) To disseminate

(physics, transitive, intransitive) To separate rays of light etc. according to wavelength; to refract

(intransitive) To distribute throughout