SHATTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does shatter mean? 

• SHATTER (verb)
  The verb SHATTER has 3 senses:

1. break into many pieces

2. damage or destroy

3. cause to break into many pieces

  Familiarity information: SHATTER used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SHATTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they shatter    ... he / she / it shatters   
Past simple: shattered   
Past participle: shattered   
-ing form: shattering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Break into many pieces

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The wine glass shattered

Hypernyms (to "shatter" is one way to...):

burst; bust (break open or apart suddenly and forcefully)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

The glass tubes shatter

Derivation:

shattering (the act of breaking something into small pieces)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Damage or destroy

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

The news of her husband's death shattered her life

Hypernyms (to "shatter" is one way to...):

damage (inflict damage upon)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to break into many pieces

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

shatter the plate

Hypernyms (to "shatter" is one way to...):

break (destroy the integrity of; usually by force; cause to separate into pieces or fragments)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They shatter the glass tubes

Derivation:

shattering (the act of breaking something into small pieces)

 Context examples 

About sixty; but his constitution has been shattered by his life abroad, and he has been in failing health for some time.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Their simulations show this violent impact, thought to have occurred about 2 billion years ago, completely shattered the parent body.

(ESO Telescope Reveals What Could be the Smallest Dwarf Planet Yet in the Solar System, ESO)

Alleyne had dropped his shattered sword and was standing, trembling in every limb, with his rage all changed in an instant to pity.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The figure broke into fragments, and Holmes bent eagerly over the shattered remains.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The only joy that he can now know will be when he composes his shattered spirit to peace and death.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A hush came over us as we stood round these shattered remains and realized the truth of Lord John Roxton's words.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This scenario is supported by Voyager 2 images from 1989 that show a large impact crater on Proteus, almost large enough to have shattered the moon.

(Tiny Neptune Moon Spotted by Hubble May Have Broken from Larger Moon, NASA)

In wandering round the shattered walls and through the devastated interior, I gathered evidence that the calamity was not of late occurrence.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

I was looking through the glasses, and I saw the oar-blade shatter as he shot.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This reception of a shattered fragment of the Temple once called Man—if I may be permitted so to express myself—bespeaks a heart that is an honour to our common nature.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)