| 释义 |
▪ I. scattering, vbl. n.|ˈskætərɪŋ|
[-ing1.]
1. The action of the verb scatter, in various senses; also, an instance of this.
1382Wyclif Jas. i. 1 James..to the twelue kynredis, that ben in scateringe abrood, helthe. a1425Cursor M. 15541 (Trin.) Þis nyȝt shal ben a scateryng [v.rr. sculd, skaile, parting] bitwene ȝou and me. 1545Joye Exp. Dan. xii. 121 There muste nedis folowe..skaterings and dissipacions of nacions. 1588Sir J. Hawkins in Defeat Sp. Armada (Navy Rec. Soc.) I. 359 By the occasion of the scattering [MS. schateringe] of one of the great ships from the fleet. 1662Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. i. §1 By reason of the promiscuous scatterings of good and evil in this life.
attrib.1833Herschel Astron. §45 (1839) 33 Were it not for the reflective and scattering power of the atmosphere, no objects would be visible to us out of direct sunshine... This scattering action of the atmosphere [etc.].
(b) spec. in Physics: cf. scatter v. 5 e.
1866B. Stewart Heat §189 (1876) 186 As in the case of light.., so also with regard to heat there is a diffuse reflection or scattering about of the rays. 1911Proc. Manchester Lit. & Philos. Soc. LV. p. xviii (heading) The scattering of the α and β rays and the structure of the atom. 1942J. D. Stranathan ‘Particles’ Mod. Physics xi. 405 On the theory of multiple scattering an entirely negligible number of particles should be scattered at large angles. 1950Nature 30 Dec. 1103/2 It is..probable that turbulent scattering..plays an important part in determining the signals received from high-power metre⁓wave transmitters at distances greater than about 100 miles. 1955Hueter & Bolt Sonics iii. 85 Scattering at the grain boundaries is one important cause for the absorption of ultrasonic waves in metals. 1974G. Reece tr. Hund's Hist. Quantum Theory iv. 56 In 1903 J. J. Thomson worked out from the intensity of scattering of X-rays that the number of electrons must be roughly equal to the atomic weight. 1975D. G. Fink Electronics Engineers' Handbk. xviii. 91 At frequencies in the 30- to 100-MHz region, regular but weak propagation by ionospheric scattering is obtained.
2. a. concr. That which is scattered.
a1340Hampole Psalter cxlvi. 2 Dispersiones israelis congregabit... Þe scatiryngis of israel he sall gadire. 1546Supplic. of Poore Commons (E.E.T.S.) 71 They..must leue the latward fruit, with the scateryng of theyr corne, for the poor to gather. a1662Heylin Laud i. (1671) 156 Which alone will be able to bind up the scatterings of divided affections into strength. 1692South 12 Serm. (1697) II. 455 The former Instances of Temporal Prosperity, which are but (as it were) the promiscuous Scatterings of his Common Providence. 1747W. Gould Ants 36 A white Substance, not altogether unlike the Scatterings of fine Sugar. 1908Betw. Trent & Axeholme 107 On the grass..lies a thick scattering of petals.
b. A sparse number or amount; a small proportion (of persons) interspersed.
1628Earle Microcosm. xxxii. G, He has his sentences for Company, some scatterings of Seneca and Tacitus. 1690C. Nesse Hist. O. & N.T. I. 180 The gentile world wherein God had some scatterings of holy ones. 1896Strand Mag. XII. 348/1 There is a scattering of Europeans among the divers.
3. Special Comb.: scattering angle Physics, the angle through which a scattered particle or beam is deflected.
1913Phil. Mag. XXVI. 711 It is a different matter..when the scattering angle is only about 1/10 of a degree, as in the present experiment. 1950Nature 30 Dec. 1102/2 A great simplification of the results is effected by restricting the discussion to small angles (beam-widths and scattering angles). 1970I. E. McCarthy Nuclear Reactions i. i. 9 We see that for a given scattering angle particles of higher energy come closer to the nucleus.
▪ II. scattering, ppl. a.|ˈskætərɪŋ|
[f. scatter v. + -ing2.]
1. In intransitive senses.
a. That disperses in all directions; hence vagrant, roving, stray. † Of action: Erratic.
c1450Brut i. 191 Thus staterand [? read scaterand] Scottes, holde y for sottes, of wrenches vnwar. [Cf. Skiterende Scottes v.r. c 1330 in Langtoft Chron. (Rolls) II. 252.] 1555Eden Decades (Arb.) 121 The naked seely sowles were slayne for the most parte lyke scaterynge sheepe. 1604Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 151 Nor build your selfe a trouble Out of his scattering, and vnsure obseruance. 1691Ray Creation i. (1692) 36 The scattering Spirits remaining in the Heart may for a time being agitated by heat, cause these faint Pulsations. 1718Rowe tr. Lucan iv. 190 The scatt'ring clouds disclos'd the piercing light. 1724De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 122 They sent about twenty scattering troopers.
b. Lying scattered or spread out over a comparatively wide area; occurring sparsely or irregularly; sporadic; of a composite thing, having its parts so spread out; straggling. Now chiefly U.S.
Of votes (U.S.): Miscellaneous, cast for candidates whose poll is too small to call for separate enumeration.
1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 439 A small village it is in these daies, inhabited in scattering wise. 1642Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xiv. 414 Then first he sells..some stragling mannour..as counting the gathering of such scattering rents rather burdensome then profitable. 1677Hubbard Indian Wars (1865) II. 256 Many of these scattering Plantations in our Borders..were contented to live without..Yoake of Government. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 192 Yet, lab'ring well his little Spot of Ground, Some scatt'ring Potherbs here and there he found. 1709Strype Ann. Ref. xxxii. 325 Now to gather up a few more scattering passages that happened this year. c1710C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 164 They being scattering houses, here one, there another. 1828–32Webster, Scattering, not united; divided among many; as, scattering votes. 1856Olmsted Slave States 642 Washington is a mean, scattering village. 1875Whitney Life Lang. xiii. 266 When the Etruscans were Latinized, but for the scattering words which they had written down, their speech passed out of all reach of knowledge. 1879A. Johnston Hist. Amer. Politics (1884) 221 The Electoral votes..were found to be, for President, Grant, 286, T. A. Hendricks, of Indiana, 42, and 21 scattering. 1888Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. I. 408 Letters appearing in the record less frequently than five per cent of these numbers have been regarded as scattering errors.
c. That scatters or falls here and there.
1761Wesley Jrnl. 20 June (1827) III. 61 We had only some scattering drops [of rain]. 1794Nelson 21 Jan. in Nicolas Disp. (1845) I. 364 They only got a few scattering shot at us.
2. a. Physics. That causes scattering (of light, radiation, particles or the like).
1808Herschel Col. Rings in Phil. Trans. XCIX. 280 A scattering glass applied to the incident ray, had no other effect than to diminish the brightness of the [prismatic] bow. 1911Phil. Mag. XXI. 675 It is essential that the thickness of the scattering material should be so small that the chance of a second encounter involving another large deflexion is very small. 1938R. W. Lawson tr. Hevesy & Paneth's Man. Radioactivity (ed. 2) ix. 95 A strong pencil of α-particles of definite velocity is allowed to strike a thin sheet of the scattering substance. 1958Times 30 Apr. 6/6 The forward scatter technique..in this case uses the troposphere as the scattering medium. 1970D. W. Tenquist et al. University Optics II. ii. 84 If the incident light photon of energy hv impinges upon a molecule of the scattering medium and the energy state of this molecule changes from E1 to E2, the energy of the Raman scattered photon is given by hv - (E2 - E1).
b. scattering layer (Oceanogr.), any of a number of layers in the sea which give rise to strong acoustic echoes owing to the presence of a high concentration of living organisms.
1942Reverberation Stud. at 24 Kc (Univ. Calif. Div. War Res. Rep. u7) 48 (heading) Deep scattering layers. Ibid. 49 Observations indicate that deep scattering layers, in a given area, may appear and disappear and yet persist for periods as long as a month or perhaps even longer. 1948Nat. Geogr. Mag. Sept. 277/2 So incredibly numerous are such sea creatures that this layer of ocean life actually returns an echo of the sound sent down by the Fathometer. The echo from this so-called ‘scattering layer’ is sometimes so strong that it causes navigators to think they are sailing over a shoal. 1972J. Williams Oceanogr. 53 At night this deep scattering layer..is centered near the sea surface... In the morning it moves down into the depths again. 1977Clay & Medwin Acoust. Oceanogr. vii. 237 A great deal of data, particularly the frequency dependence of scattering layers, are obtained by using explosive sources.
Hence † ˈscatteringness. Obs. rare—1.
1747in Col. Rec. Pennsylv. V. 102 The scatteringness of the Settlements..must ever render them liable to Depredations. |