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Shatter vs Sever - What's the difference?

shatter | sever |

As a verb shatter

is to violently break something into pieces.

As a noun shatter

is (archaic) a fragment of anything shattered.

As a proper noun sever is

.

shatter

English

(wikipedia shatter)

Verb

(en verb)
  • to violently break something into pieces.
    • The miners used dynamite to shatter rocks.
    a high-pitched voice that could shatter glass
    The old oak tree has been shattered by lightning.
  • to destroy or disable something.
  • to smash, or break into tiny pieces.
  • to dispirit or emotionally defeat
    • to be shattered''' in intellect; to have '''shattered''' hopes, or a '''shattered constitution
  • * 1984 Martyn Burke, The commissar's report, p36
    • Your death will shatter him. Which is what I want. Actually, I would prefer to kill him.
  • * 1992 Rose Gradym "Elvis Cures Teen's Brain Cancer!" Weekly World News , Vol. 13, No. 38 (23 June, 1992), p41
    • A CAT scan revealed she had an inoperable brain tumor. The news shattered Michele's mother.
  • * 2006 A. W. Maldonado, Luis Muñoz Marín: Puerto Rico's democratic revolution, p163
    • The marriage, of course, was long broken but Munoz knew that asking her for a divorce would shatter her.
  • * Norris
    • a man of a loose, volatile, and shattered humour
  • (obsolete) To scatter about.
  • * Milton
    • Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (archaic) A fragment of anything shattered.
    • to break a glass into shatters
    (Jonathan Swift)

    Anagrams

    * * English ergative verbs

    sever

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To cut free.
    • After he graduated, he severed all links to his family.
    to sever the head from the body
  • * Bible, Matthew xiii. 49
    • The angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just.
  • To suffer disjunction; to be parted or separated.
    • (Shakespeare)
  • To make a separation or distinction; to distinguish.
    • The Lord shall sever between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt. — Ex. ix. 4.
    They claimed the right of severing in their challenge. — Macaulay.
  • (legal) To disunite; to disconnect; to terminate.
    • to sever an estate in joint tenancy
    (Blackstone)

    Synonyms

    * becut * cut off

    Derived terms

    * severable * severally

    Related terms

    * separate

    External links

    * * *

    Anagrams

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