overscattering

English

Etymology

From over- +‎ scattering.

Noun

overscattering (uncountable)

1. Excessive scattering; scattering too far or too much.
   • 1888 August, “Confessions of a Gardener”, in MacMillan's Magazine, volume 58, number 346, page 289:

     It is indeed a difficult mean to hit between overcrowding and overscattering.

   • 2008, Shlomo Biderman, Crossing Horizons, page 115:

     […] a pointless anxiety about "overscattering" takes hold, propelling the story to its somewhat ironic finale in which they are desperately scattered upon the face of the earth.

2. (biology) The breaking apart and spreading of biological entities during the preparation of sample slides for the microscope.
   • 1975, Nihon Gakushiin, Proceedings of the Japan Academy, page 54:

     Pre-fixation of embryos in the first fixative solution could decrease the dissociation or overscattering of blastomeres.

   • 1991, E. S. E. Hafez, Assisted Human Reproductive Technology, page 31:

     This technique was modified to avoid artifactual loss of chromosomes by overscattering, and the ooplasmic matrix was retained […]