If someone is shattered by an event, it shocks and upsets them very much. He had been shattered by his son's death. the tragedy which had shattered his life. see also shattered, shattering
If something shatters your dreams, hopes, or beliefs, it completely destroys them. A failure would shatter the hopes of many people Something like that really shatters your confidence
with reference to joke structure, the point at which the audience realized that their assumption is incorrect
To break at once into many pieces; to dash, burst, or part violently into fragments; to rend into splinters; as, an explosion shatters a rock or a bomb; too much steam shatters a boiler; an oak is shattered by lightning
Another condition occurring in early grape development The tiny grapes have a small "cap" on the end Normally, as they start to grow, this cap pops off However, in a cool, wet spring, such as in 1995, the grape fails to develop early and the cap toughens When warmer weather finally hits and the grape grows, it pushes against this tough cap Instead of the cap popping off, the grape shatters Again, this drastically reduces yields and leads to very low berry count and bunches with only a few grapes Shatter was a major factor in the very low yields of the 1995 harvest
If something shatters or is shattered, it breaks into a lot of small pieces. safety glass that won't shatter if it's broken The car shattered into a thousand burning pieces in a 200mph crash One bullet shattered his skull. + shattering shat·ter·ing the shattering of glass