Monday, July 16, 2012

disperse, disburse

Disperse or disperse means to break up or scatter  group of people--
The police ordered the crowd to disperse.
We waited for the crowd to disperse before we left the theater.
Our troops were dispersed over a wide area.

Disburse or disburse means to pay out, expend or distribute money --
The treasurer cannot disburse any funds until the first of the month.
The soldiers waited in line for an hour before the officer  began to disburse any money.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The security guards made the crowd disperse, even those waiting for the secretary to disburse refunds."

Note--Not to be confused with "dispense", meaning to measure out or deal out, as a prescription, or to distribute in general--
He studied pharmacy, and could dispense medication.
Note # 2--to "dispense with " means to do away with, or omit something that is usually included--
We all have name tags. I think we can dispense with the formalities.

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