break up vs scatter

break up

verb
  • To dissolve; to part. 

  • To end a (usually romantic or sexual) relationship with each other. 

  • Of a conversation, to cease to be understandable because of a bad connection; of a signal, to deteriorate. 

  • To break or separate into pieces. 

  • Become disorganised 

  • Of a school, to close for the holidays at the end of term. 

  • be or cause to be overcome with laughter 

  • To end a (usually romantic or sexual) relationship. 

  • To stop a fight; to separate people who are fighting. 

  • To cut or take to pieces for scrap. 

  • To break or separate into pieces; to disintegrate or come apart. 

  • To upset greatly; to cause great emotional disturbance or unhappiness. 

scatter

verb
  • To (cause to) separate and go in different directions; to disperse. 

  • Of a pitcher: to keep down the number of hits or walks. 

  • To deflect (radiation or particles). 

  • To occur or fall at widely spaced intervals. 

  • To distribute loosely as by sprinkling. 

  • To frustrate, disappoint, and overthrow. 

  • To be dispersed upon. 

noun
  • The act of scattering or dispersing. 

  • A collection of dispersed objects. 

How often have the words break up and scatter occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )