shatter

[shat-er] /ˈʃæt ər/
verb (used with object)
1.
to break (something) into pieces, as by a blow.
2.
to damage, as by breaking or crushing:
ships shattered by storms.
3.
to impair or destroy (health, nerves, etc.):
The incident shattered his composure.
4.
to weaken, destroy, or refute (ideas, opinions, etc.):
He wanted to shatter her illusions.
verb (used without object)
5.
to be broken into fragments or become weak or insubstantial.
noun
6.
Usually, shatters. fragments made by shattering.
Origin
1300-50; Middle English schateren < ?; cf. scatter
Related forms
shatterer, noun
shatteringly, adverb
nonshatter, noun
nonshattering, adjective
unshattered, adjective
Synonyms
1. shiver, split, crack. See break.
Examples from the web for shattering
  • The introduction to academic politics and political correctness was shattering.
  • The bullet severed the optic nerve in his right eye before shattering his jaw and then lodging in his neck near his jugular vein.
  • But amid the thundering ten-foot waves and shattering spray, hundreds of northern fur seals played with nimble abandon.
  • Perhaps shattering all those taboos might do some good.
  • Technology is shattering barriers to entry in many industries and entrepreneurship is flourishing.
  • They are sealed shut, and covered now with plastic film to stop them shattering in explosions.
  • Inflation started with the whole universe m shattering into fragments that evolved into, became, the galaxy clusters.
  • The shattering can produce a quark-gluon plasma, a bulk form of quarks and gluons.
  • When applied to steel, the polymer spreads out the shock of an explosion and helps prevent impacted material from shattering.
  • But their world is beginning to change, ice shelves are shattering and huge icebergs are forming.
British Dictionary definitions for shattering

shatter

/ˈʃætə/
verb
1.
to break or be broken into many small pieces
2.
(transitive) to impair or destroy: his nerves were shattered by the torture
3.
(transitive) to dumbfound or thoroughly upset: she was shattered by the news
4.
(transitive) (informal) to cause to be tired out or exhausted
5.
an obsolete word for scatter
noun
6.
(usually pl) (obsolete or dialect) a fragment
Derived Forms
shatterer, noun
shattering, adjective
shatteringly, adverb
Word Origin
C12: perhaps obscurely related to scatter
Word Origin and History for shattering
adj.

1560s, present participle adjective from shatter (v.). Related: Shatteringly.

shatter

v.

early 14c., transitive, probably a variant of Middle English scateren (see scatter (v.)). Cf. Old Dutch schetteren Low German schateren. Formations such as scatter-brained had parallel forms in shatter-brained, etc. Intransitive sense from 1560s. Related: Shattered; shattering. Carlyle (1841) used shatterment. Shatters "fragments" is from 1630s.