diffuse
to pour out and spread, as a fluid.
to spread or scatter widely or thinly; disseminate.
Physics. to spread by diffusion.
characterized by great length or discursiveness in speech or writing; wordy.
widely spread or scattered; dispersed.
Botany. widely or loosely spreading.
Optics. (of reflected light) scattered, as from a rough surface (opposed to specular).
Origin of diffuse
1Other words from diffuse
- dif·fuse·ly [dih-fyoos-lee], /dɪˈfyus li/, adverb
- dif·fuse·ness, noun
- in·ter·dif·fuse, verb, in·ter·dif·fused, in·ter·dif·fus·ing.
- non·dif·fuse, adjective
- non·dif·fused, adjective
- non·dif·fus·ing, adjective
- o·ver·dif·fuse, verb, o·ver·dif·fused, o·ver·dif·fus·ing, adjective
- o·ver·dif·fuse·ly, adverb
- o·ver·dif·fuse·ness, noun
- re·dif·fuse, verb, re·dif·fused, re·dif·fus·ing.
- un·dif·fused, adjective
- well-dif·fused, adjective
Words that may be confused with diffuse
- defuse, diffuse
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use diffuse in a sentence
Is memory made apt and extensive or narrow and diffusely irrelevant?
Human Nature and Conduct | John DeweyIn Section 106 we learned that most objects are visible to us because of the light diffusely reflected from them.
General Science | Bertha M. ClarkHe seemed a trifle sulky, but he did not talk about himself diffusely, and lose his head when he was smoothed the right way.
T. Tembarom | Frances Hodgson Burnett"Let me have the pleasure of telling it you my way," cried she, and told it diffusely, and kept him writhing.
White Lies | Charles ReadeAre the sensitive cells diffusely distributed in the organ or do they form a definite layer?
Life Movements in Plants, Volume II, 1919 | Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
British Dictionary definitions for diffuse
to spread or cause to spread in all directions
to undergo or cause to undergo diffusion
to scatter or cause to scatter; disseminate; disperse
spread out over a wide area
lacking conciseness
(esp of some creeping stems) spreading loosely over a large area
characterized by or exhibiting diffusion: diffuse light; diffuse reflection
botany (of plant growth) occurring throughout a tissue
Origin of diffuse
1confusable For diffuse
Derived forms of diffuse
- diffusely (dɪˈfjuːslɪ), adverb
- diffuseness, noun
- diffusible (dɪˈfjuːzəbəl), adjective
- diffusibility or diffusibleness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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