shatter

English

Etymology

From Middle English schateren (“to scatter, dash”), an assibilated form of Middle English scateren ("to scatter"; see scatter), from Old English *scaterian (possibly attested as Old English *sċeacerian in tōsċeacerian (“to waste, devastate, scatter”), from Proto-Germanic *skat- (“to smash, scatter”). Cognate with Dutch schateren (“to burst out laughing”), Low German schateren, Albanian shkatërroj (“to destroy, devastate”). Doublet of scatter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃæt.ə(ɹ)/
• IPA^(key): /ˈʃæt.ɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætə(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: shat‧ter

Verb

A lightglobe shatters after it is shot with a pistol

shatter (third-person singular simple present shatters, present participle shattering, simple past and past participle shattered)

1. (transitive) 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.

2. (transitive) to destroy or disable something.
3. (intransitive) to smash, or break into tiny pieces.
4. (transitive) 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.

   • (Can we date this quote by Norris and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     a man of a loose, volatile, and shattered humour

5. (obsolete) To scatter about.
   • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year.

Translations

to violently break something into pieces

• Catalan: esmicolar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使破碎, 使碎裂

• Dutch: aan diggelen slaan, verbrijzelen (nl)
• Esperanto: frakasi (eo)
• Finnish: pirstoa, särkeä (fi)
• French: fracasser (fr), réduire en miettes (fr), mettre en pièces (fr), briser (fr)
• Galician: trizar, esmiuzar, esborrefar, esmoiñar, relar (gl), esbroar, esfarelar (gl), esfargallar (gl), mastrigallar
• Georgian: მსხვრევა (msxvreva)
• German: zum Zerspringen bringen, zerschmettern (de), zersplittern (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: σκεδάννυμι (skedánnumi)

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: fracassare (it), spaccare (it), sconquassare (it), frantumare (it)
• Latin: frangō (la), comminuō
• Persian: کراشیدن (fa) (kerâšidan)
• Plautdietsch: tweibräakjen
• Portuguese: estilhaçar
• Quechua: thuñiy
• Russian: разбива́ть (ru) impf (razbivátʹ), разби́ть (ru) pf (razbítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: smrskati (sh)
• Spanish: astillar (es), estrellar (es), quebrantar (es), hacer añicos
• Swahili: kuvunja (sw)
• Swedish: krossa (sv)
• Ukrainian: розтро́щувати impf (roztróščuvaty), розтрощи́ти pf (roztroščýty), трощи́ти impf (troščýty)

to smash, or break into tiny pieces

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: esmicolar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 粉碎 (zh) (fěnsuì)

• Dutch: verbrijzelen (nl)
• Finnish: pirstoutua (fi), särkyä (fi)
• French: éclater (fr), voler en éclats (fr)
• Galician: esnaquizar (gl), esmiñacar, espitallar, lascar
• Georgian: მსხვრევა (msxvreva)
• German: zerspringen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: andare in frantumi, sbriciolarsi
• Maori: pākarukaru
• Portuguese: estilhaçar
• Quechua: thuñiy
• Russian: разбива́ться (ru) impf (razbivátʹsja), разби́ться (ru) pf (razbítʹsja)
• Serbo-Croatian: smrskati (sh)
• Spanish: astillar (es), estrellar (es), hacer añicos
• Swedish: krossa (sv), krascha (sv), krasa (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

Noun

shatter (countable and uncountable, plural shatters)

1. (countable, archaic) A fragment of anything shattered.

   to break a glass into shatters

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Jonathan Swift to this entry?)

2. A (pine) needle.

   Synonym: shat (Maryland, Delaware)

   • 1834, The Southern Agriculturist and Register of Rural Affairs: Adapted to the Southern Section of the United States, page 421:

     My usual habit is, as soon as I get my wheat trodden out, and my corn secured in the fall, to litter my farm yard (and if my cultivation is far off, I select some warm spot near the field) with leaves and pine shatters, (preferring the former) ...

   • 1859, Samuel W. Cole, The New England Farmer, page 277:

     They are preserved in cellars, or out of doors in kilns. The method of fixing them is to raise the ground a few inches, where they are to be placed, and cover with pine shatters to the depth of six inches or more.

   • 2012, Marguerite Henry, Sea Star: Orphan of Chincoteague, Simon and Schuster (→ISBN), page 95:

     Grandpa snapped his fingers. "Consarn it all!" he sputtered. "I plumb forgot the pine shatters. Paul and Maureen, you gather some nice smelly pine shatters from off 'n the floor of the woods. Nothin' makes a better cushion for pony feet as pine shatters ..."

3. (uncountable, slang) A form of concentrated cannabis.

Translations

a fragment of anything shattered

• German: Splitter (de) m, Stückchen (de) n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

a (pine) needle

• German: Nadel (de) f, Kiefernnadel (de) f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Anagrams

• Hatters, Threats, hatters, stareth, threats