source: dispel GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

SCATTER, DISPERSE, DISSIPATE, DISPEL mean to cause to separate or break up.

SCATTER implies a force that drives parts or units irregularly in many directions.

e.g. the bowling ball scattered the pins

DISPERSE implies a wider separation and a complete breaking up of a mass or group.

e.g. police dispersed the crowd

DISSIPATE stresses complete disintegration or dissolution and final disappearance.

e.g. the fog was dissipated by the morning sun

DISPEL stresses a driving away or getting rid of as if by scattering.

e.g. an authoritative statement that dispelled all doubt

verb (dispels, dispelling, dispelled) with object

make (a doubt, feeling, or belief) disappear:

〈心配･恐怖など〉を払いのける; 〈うわさ･疑いなど〉を晴らす

e.g. the brightness of the day did nothing to dispel Elaine's dejection.

dispeller noun

late Middle English: from Latin dispellere, from dis- ‘apart’ + pellere ‘to drive’.