shatter

Contents

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʃæt.ə(ɹ)/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ætə(r)

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.

   • Norris

     a man of a loose, volatile, and shattered humour

5. (obsolete) To scatter about.
   • Milton

     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)
• Georgian: მსხვრევა (msxvreva)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: σκεδάννυμι (skedánnumi)

• Italian: fracassare (it), spaccare (it), sconquassare (it), frantumare (it)
• Latin: 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)

• Dutch: verbrijzelen (nl)
• Finnish: pirstoutua, särkyä (fi)
• French: éclater (fr), voler en éclats (fr)
• Georgian: მსხვრევა (msxvreva)

• Italian: andare in frantumi
• 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 (plural shatters)

1. (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?)

Anagrams

• Hatters, Threats, hatters, stareth, threats