Adjacent Words

Dissipate definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DISSIPATE, v.t. [L., to throw.]
1. To scatter; to disperse; to drive asunder. Wind dissipates fog; the heat of the sun dissipates vapor; mirth dissipates care and anxiety; the cares of life tend to dissipate serious reflections. Scatter, disperse and dissipate are in many cases synonymous; but dissipate is used appropriately to denote the dispersion of things that vanish, or are not afterwards collected; as, to dissipate fog, vapor or clouds. We say, an army is scattered or dispersed, but not dissipated. Trees are scattered or dispersed over a field, but not dissipated.
2. To expend; to squander; to scatter property in wasteful extravagance; to waste; to consume; as, a man has dissipated his fortune in the pursuit of pleasure.
3. To scatter the attention.
DISSIPATE, v.i. To scatter; to disperse; to separate into parts and disappear; to waste away; to vanish.
A fog or cloud gradually dissipates, before the rays or heat of the sun. The heat of a body dissipates; the fluids dissipate.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: to cause to separate and go in different directions; "She waved her hand and scattered the crowds" [syn: disperse, dissipate, dispel, break up, scatter]
2: move away from each other; "The crowds dispersed"; "The children scattered in all directions when the teacher approached"; [syn: disperse, dissipate, scatter, spread out]
3: spend frivolously and unwisely; "Fritter away one's inheritance" [syn: fritter, frivol away, dissipate, shoot, fritter away, fool, fool away]
4: live a life of pleasure, especially with respect to alcoholic consumption

Merriam Webster's

verb (-pated; -pating) Etymology: Latin dissipatus, past participle of dissipare, dissupare, from dis- + supare to throw Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. a. to break up and drive off (as a crowd) b. to cause to spread thin or scatter and gradually vanish <one's sympathy is eventually dissipated — Andrew Feinberg> c. to lose (as heat or electricity) irrecoverably 2. to spend or use up wastefully or foolishly <dissipated the family fortune in reckless business ventures> intransitive verb 1. to break up and scatter or vanish <the clouds soon dissipated> <the team's early momentum has dissipated> 2. to be extravagant or dissolute in the pursuit of pleasure; especially to drink to excess Synonyms: see scatter • dissipater noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 a tr. cause (a cloud, vapour, fear, darkness, etc.) to disappear or disperse. b intr. disperse, scatter, disappear. 2 intr. & tr. break up; bring or come to nothing. 3 tr. squander or fritter away (money, energy, etc.). 4 intr. (as dissipated adj.) given to dissipation, dissolute. Derivatives: dissipater n. dissipative adj. dissipator n. Etymology: L dissipare dissipat- (as DIS-, sipare (unrecorded) throw)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dissipate Dis"si*pate, v. i. 1. To separate into parts and disappear; to waste away; to scatter; to disperse; to vanish; as, a fog or cloud gradually dissipates before the rays or heat of the sun; the heat of a body dissipates. 2. To be extravagant, wasteful, or dissolute in the pursuit of pleasure; to engage in dissipation.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dissipate Dis"si*pate, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Dissipated; p. pr. & vb. n. Dissipating.] [L. dissipatus, p. p. of dissipare; dis- + an obsolete verb sipare, supare. to throw.] 1. To scatter completely; to disperse and cause to disappear; -- used esp. of the dispersion of things that can never again be collected or restored. Dissipated those foggy mists of error. --Selden. I soon dissipated his fears. --Cook. The extreme tendency of civilization is to dissipate all intellectual energy. --Hazlitt. 2. To destroy by wasteful extravagance or lavish use; to squander. The vast wealth . . . was in three years dissipated. --Bp. Burnet. Syn: To disperse; scatter; dispel; spend; squander; waste; consume; lavish.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dissipates, dissipating, dissipated) 1. When something dissipates or when you dissipate it, it becomes less or becomes less strong until it disappears or goes away completely. (FORMAL) The tension in the room had dissipated... He wound down the windows to dissipate the heat. VERB: V, V n 2. When someone dissipates money, time, or effort, they waste it in a foolish way. (FORMAL) He is dissipating his time and energy on too many different things... VERB: V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Disperse, dispel, scatter, drive away. 2. Waste, squander, lavish, consume, spend lavishly, throw away. II. v. n. 1. Vanish, disappear, scatter, disperse. 2. Live dissolutely, be dissolute, practise debauchery, indulge in dissipation. 3. Live idly and luxuriously, enervate one's self, be an idler and spendthrift.

Moby Thesaurus

ablate, attenuate, be consumed, be gone, be promiscuous, blow, blow off, blunder away, break up, burn up, carouse, cast forth, cease, cease to be, cease to exist, chase women, clear away, come to naught, come to nothing, commit adultery, consume, crumble, debauch, decrease, dematerialize, depart, deplete, depreciate, die, die away, die out, diffuse, dilute, diminish, disappear, disintegrate, dispel, disperse, disseminate, dissolve, distribute, do a fade-out, drain, dribble away, drive away, dwindle, erode, evanesce, evaporate, exhaust, exit, fade, fade away, fade out, flee, fly, fool, fornicate, fritter away, gamble away, go, go away, go through, go to pot, go to seed, go to waste, grovel, hang the expense, hide, lavish, leak, leak away, leave no trace, leave the scene, live hard, make merry, melt, melt away, party, pass, pass away, pass out, perish, peter out, philander, plunge into dissipation, rake, retire from sight, revel, roister, run riot, run through, run to seed, run to waste, scatter, seize the day, shrink, sink, sink away, slather, sleep around, sow, sow broadcast, spread out, squander, suffer an eclipse, swing, thin, thin out, throw away, throw money around, use up, vanish, vanish from sight, vaporize, volatilize, wallow, wanton, waste, waste away, wear, wear away, whore, womanize