shatter

Definition

To violently break something into pieces.

Etymology

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

Example Sentences

• "The miners used dynamite to shatter rocks."
• "a high-pitched voice that could shatter glass"
• "The old oak tree has been shattered by lightning."