The DICT Development Group

  Diffuse \Dif*fuse"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Diffused; p. pr. &
     vb. n. Diffusing.] [L. diffusus, p. p. of diffundere to
     pour out, to diffuse; dif- = dis- + fundere to pour. See
     Fuse to melt.]
     To pour out and cause to spread, as a fluid; to cause to flow
     on all sides; to send out, or extend, in all directions; to
     spread; to circulate; to disseminate; to scatter; as to
     diffuse information.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           Thence diffuse
           His good to worlds and ages infinite.    --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           We find this knowledge diffused among all civilized
           nations.                                 --Whewell.
  
     Syn: To expand; spread; circulate; extend; scatter; disperse;
          publish; proclaim.
          [1913 Webster]

  Diffuse \Dif*fuse"\, v. i.
     To pass by spreading every way, to diffuse itself.
     [1913 Webster]

  Diffuse \Dif*fuse"\, a. [L. diffusus, p. p.]
     Poured out; widely spread; not restrained; copious; full;
     esp., of style, opposed to concise or terse; verbose;
     prolix; as, a diffuse style; a diffuse writer.
     [1913 Webster]
  
           A diffuse and various knowledge of divine and human
           things.                                  --Milton.
  
     Syn: Prolix; verbose; wide; copious; full. See Prolix.
          [1913 Webster]

  diffuse
      adj 1: spread out; not concentrated in one place; "a large
             diffuse organization"
      2: (of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected
         [syn: soft, diffuse, diffused] [ant: concentrated,
         hard]
      3: lacking conciseness; "a diffuse historical novel"
      v 1: move outward; "The soldiers fanned out" [syn: diffuse,
           spread, spread out, fan out]
      2: spread or diffuse through; "An atmosphere of distrust has
         permeated this administration"; "music penetrated the entire
         building"; "His campaign was riddled with accusations and
         personal attacks" [syn: permeate, pervade, penetrate,
         interpenetrate, diffuse, imbue, riddle]
      3: cause to become widely known; "spread information";
         "circulate a rumor"; "broadcast the news" [syn: circulate,
         circularize, circularise, distribute, disseminate,
         propagate, broadcast, spread, diffuse, disperse,
         pass around]

  289 Moby Thesaurus words for "diffuse":
     abounding, abundant, affluent, all-sufficing, ambagious, ample,
     aplenty, assign, atomize, bend, bespread, bestrew, bias,
     bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, break into pieces,
     break to pieces, break up, broad, broadcast, carry over, casual,
     circuitous, circulate, circumfuse, circumlocutory, communicate,
     consign, copious, crash, crawl with, creep with, crook, crunch,
     crush, curve, cut to pieces, deal out, deflect, deflected,
     deflective, deliver, demolish, deport, desultory, deviate,
     diffract, diffracted, diffractive, diffuse, diffused, diffusive,
     digressive, discrete, discursive, disjoin, dispel, dispense,
     disperse, dispersed, dispread, disrupt, disseminate, disseminated,
     dissipate, dissipated, distort, distorted, distribute, distributed,
     diverge, divert, dogleg, ease, ease off, effuse, effusive, emanate,
     epidemic, exhaustless, expand, expel, export, extend,
     extend throughout, extended, extensive, extradite, extravagant,
     exuberant, fan out, far-embracing, far-extending, far-flung,
     far-flying, far-going, far-ranging, far-reaching, fat, fecund,
     fertile, fill, fission, flectional, flexed, flush, formless,
     fragment, free, full, galore, generous, grind, gushing, gushy,
     hairpin, hand forward, hand on, hand over, honeycomb, imbue,
     impart, import, in plenty, in quantity, indiscriminate,
     inexhaustible, inflective, infuse, interlard, intersow,
     intersperse, intersprinkle, issue, large-scale, lasting, lavish,
     lax, leave no void, leaven, lengthy, let go, let up, liberal, long,
     long-drawn-out, long-winded, loose, loosen, loquacious, luxuriant,
     make mincemeat of, make over, many, maximal, meandering,
     metastasize, metathesize, mince, much, numerous, occupy, opulent,
     overflowing, overrun, overscatter, oversow, overspread, overswarm,
     pass, pass on, pass over, pass the buck, penetrate, perfuse,
     periphrastic, permeate, pervade, plenitudinous, plenteous,
     plentiful, plenty, pleonastic, prevailing, prevalent, prodigal,
     productive, profuse, profusive, prolific, prolix, prolonged,
     propagate, protracted, publish, pull, pulverize, radiate, rambling,
     rampant, random, ray, redundant, refract, refracted, refractile,
     refractive, refrangible, reiterative, relax, relay, repetitive,
     replete, retail, rich, rife, riotous, roundabout, run through,
     running over, scatter, scattered, shatter, shiver, skew, skewed,
     slack, slack off, slacken, smash, smash up, sow, sow broadcast,
     sparse, splay, splinter, sporadic, spread, spread out, squash,
     squish, straggling, straggly, strew, strewn, strown, suffuse,
     superabundant, swarm with, sweeping, switch, tautologous,
     teem with, teeming, transfer, transfer property, transfuse,
     translate, translocate, transmit, transplace, transplant,
     transpose, turn, turn over, twist, unglue, unleash, unstick, utter,
     verbose, warp, wealthy, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided,
     well-stocked, wholesale, wide, wide-extended, wide-extending,
     wide-ranging, wide-reaching, wide-stretching, widespread, windy,
     wordy, zigzag