- strew
- strew, straw, scatter, sow, broadcast can mean to throw loosely or at intervals.Strew and the less common straw usually imply a spreading at intervals, but the intervals may be so fine as not to be obvious or so great that each thing may be separately identified{
ground strewn with leaves
}{strew a path with gravel
}{as he sits in the armchair, the Sunday papers are strewn around him— Mailer
}{he looked . . . over the great mesa -strewn plain far below— Cather
}{petty ordinances ... of no more weight than dandelion fluff strawed by the wind— Clement Wood
}{the tent of night in tatters straws the sky-pavilioned land— Housman
}Scatter (see also SCATTER) implies a separation of parts or pieces, but it distinctively implies a throwing that lets the things fall where they will{scatter pennies
}{scatter bread crumbs
}{no railroad scatters its soot over the neat white frame houses— Corey Ford
}{a story . . . attacking tuberculars for coming to San Antonio and scattering their deadly germs about this innocent city— Green Peyton
}Sow basically implies the strewing of seeds where they will sprout and develop{surrounding fields have been sown . . . with squash, pumpkin, and maize— Science
}or in its extended use the strewing of something comparable to seed that can be disseminated (as throughout a group, a community, or an organization){sow discord among the club members
}{sow seeds of reason and understanding throughout the world— A. E. Stevenson
}Broadcast (see also DECLARE) implies a scattering widely or in all directions{it is best to broadcast very fine seed
}{early in April, just before a rain begins, broadcast}}
}{3 pounds of white clover seed— H. S. Pearson
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
