Library / English Dictionary |
SPREAD OUT
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (verb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Set out or stretch in a line, succession, or series
Example:
the houses were strung out in a long row
Synonyms:
spread out; string out
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "spread out" is one way to...):
arrange; set up (put into a proper or systematic order)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Sense 2
Meaning:
Spread out or open from a closed or folded state
Example:
spread your arms
Synonyms:
open; spread; spread out; unfold
Classified under:
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging
Hypernyms (to "spread out" is one way to...):
undo (cancel, annul, or reverse an action or its effect)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spread out"):
divaricate (spread apart)
exfoliate (spread by opening the leaves of)
grass (spread out clothes on the grass to let it dry and bleach)
butterfly (cut and spread open, as in preparation for cooking)
uncross (change from a crossed to an uncrossed position)
splay (spread open or apart)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Sense 3
Meaning:
Example:
The children scattered in all directions when the teacher approached
Synonyms:
disperse; dissipate; scatter; spread out
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "spread out" is one way to...):
part; separate; split (go one's own way; move apart)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spread out"):
aerosolise; aerosolize (become dispersed as an aerosol)
break (scatter or part)
volley (be dispersed in a volley)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Sense 4
Meaning:
Example:
ballet dancers can rotate their legs out by 90 degrees
Synonyms:
rotate; splay; spread out; turn out
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "spread out" is one way to...):
turn (change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 5
Meaning:
Example:
The soldiers fanned out
Synonyms:
diffuse; fan out; spread; spread out
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "spread out" is one way to...):
distribute; spread (distribute or disperse widely)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spread out"):
mantle (spread over a surface, like a mantle)
creep (grow or spread, often in such a way as to cover (a surface))
percolate (spread gradually)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Sense 6
Meaning:
Extend in one or more directions
Example:
The dough expands
Synonyms:
expand; spread out
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "spread out" is one way to...):
grow (become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spread out"):
dispread (spread abroad or out)
bush out (grow outward)
Sentence frames:
Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Sense 7
Meaning:
Strew or distribute over an area
Example:
scatter cards across the table
Synonyms:
scatter; spread; spread out
Classified under:
Verbs of walking, flying, swimming
Hypernyms (to "spread out" is one way to...):
circulate; distribute; pass around; pass on (cause to be distributed)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spread out"):
manure; muck (spread manure, as for fertilization)
birdlime; lime (spread birdlime on branches to catch birds)
circumfuse (spread something around something)
distribute (spread throughout a given area)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something PP
Context examples:
Diamonds and rubies are gone, spread out on the deck to be washed away by a bucket of sea-water, and he does not even know that the diamonds and rubies are gone.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Here they spread out into a long straggling line of spearmen and bowmen.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He has the sugar of his tea spread out on the window-sill, and is reaping quite a harvest of flies.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
We were both of us capsized in a second, and both of us rolled, almost together, into the scuppers, the dead red-cap, with his arms still spread out, tumbling stiffly after us.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Issue associated with the use of the device in terms of user experiencing difficulty to close or to spread out/extend length of a device, even if the operation is being performed according to labeled instructions for use.
(Difficult to Fold or Unfold Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)
Healthy diabetic eating includes: • Limiting foods that are high in sugar • Eating smaller portions, spread out over the day • Being careful about when and how many carbohydrates you eat • Eating a variety of whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetables every day • Eating less fat • Limiting your use of alcohol • Using less salt
(Diabetic Diet, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
Ere he landed on his feet, he saw the white camp spread out before him and knew where he was and remembered all that had passed from the time he went for a stroll with Manuel to the hole he had dug for himself the night before.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
This suggests that 3 to 4 billion years after the Big Bang, the gas in galaxies had already efficiently condensed into flat, rotating discs, while the dark matter halos surrounding them were much larger and more spread out.
(Dark Matter Less Influential in Galaxies in Early Universe, ESO)
He was following the track, his misgivings increasing with every step which took him nearer to that home which he had never seen, when of a sudden the trees began to thin and the sward to spread out onto a broad, green lawn, where five cows lay in the sunshine and droves of black swine wandered unchecked.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
After a season of darkness and struggling, light broke and relief fell: my cramped existence all at once spread out to a plain without bounds—my powers heard a call from heaven to rise, gather their full strength, spread their wings, and mount beyond ken.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)