To cause to pass or melt away; scatter or drive off in all directions; dispel: as, wind dissipates fog; the heat of the sun dissipates vapor; mirth dissipates care.
To expend wastefully; scatter extravagantly or improvidently; waste, as property by foolish outlay, or the powers of the mind by devotion to trivial pursuits.
Synonyms Dissipate, Dispel, Disperse, Scatter. These words are often interchangeable. Dissipate and dispel, however, properly apply to the dispersion of things that vanish and are not afterward collected; dissipate is the more energetic, and dispel is more often used figuratively: as, to dissipate vapor; to dissipate a fortune; to dispel doubt; to dispel uncertainty. Disperse and scatter are applied to things which may be again brought together: as, to scatter or disperse troops; or to things which are quite as real and tangible after scattering or dispersing as before: as, to gather up one's scattered wits.
To become scattered, dispersed, or diffused; come to an end or vanish through dispersion or diffusion.
To engage in extravagant, excessive, or dissolute pleasures; be loose in conduct.