“Police disbursed the crowd.”
Grammar Entry 646 / 1605 60-second read
Disburse vs. Disperse
Pay out versus scatter.
The comparisoni
“Police dispersed the crowd.”
The ruleii
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DISBURSE = pay. DISPERSE = scatter.
DISBURSE comes from "purse" — it's about money. DISPERSE means to scatter or spread out.
Memory aidiii
Remember it like this
DisbURSE has a PURSE.