Crossword Genius

Runs in all directions and disturbs cat's rest (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scatters

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'runs in all directions' is the definition.
The answer and definition can be both acts as well as being plural nouns.
Maybe there's an association between them I don't understand?

'disturbs cat's rest' is the wordplay.
'disturbs' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'disturbed' mean this (the order of letters is disturbed)).
'cats'+'rest'='catsrest'
'catsrest' is an anagram of 'SCATTERS'.

'and' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for scatters that I've seen before include "Strews in all directions" , "Disperses in all directions" , "Disperses and scatters around" , "Disperses and throws around" , "Throws in random directions" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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