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spread

Pronunciation: /spɹɛd/

The English word “spread” has 20 meanings listed here.

verb

  1. To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space.
  2. To extend (individual rays, limbs etc.); to stretch out in varying or opposing directions. simple past and past participle of spread
  3. To disperse, to scatter or distribute over a given area.
  4. To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated.
  5. To disseminate; to cause to proliferate, to make (something) widely known or present.
  6. To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended.
  7. To smear, to distribute in a thin layer.
  8. To cover (something) with a thin layer of some substance, as of butter.
  9. To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions.
  10. To open one’s legs, especially for sexual favours.

noun

  1. The act of spreading.
  2. Something that has been spread.
  3. A layout, pattern or design of cards arranged for a reading.
  4. An expanse of land.
  5. A large tract of land used to raise livestock; a cattle ranch.
  6. A piece of material used as a cover (such as a bedspread).
  7. A large meal, especially one laid out on a table.
  8. Any form of food designed to be spread, such as butters or jams.
  9. A set of multiple torpedoes launched on side-by-side, slowly-diverging paths toward one or more enemy ships.
  10. Food improvised by inmates from various ingredients to relieve the tedium of prison food.

Etymology

From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), West Frisian spriede (“to spread”), North Frisian spriedjen (“to spread”), Dutch spreiden (“to spread”), Low German spreden (“to spread”), German spreiten…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.