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Webster 1913 Edition

Spread

Spread

(sprĕd)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Spread
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Spreading
.]
[OE.
spreden
, AS.
spraedan
; akin to D.
spreiden
,
spreijen
, LG.
spreden
,
spreen
,
spreien
, G.
spreiten
, Dan.
sprede
, Sw.
sprida
. Cf.
Spray
water flying in drops.]
1.
To extend in length and breadth, or in breadth only; to stretch or expand to a broad or broader surface or extent; to open; to unfurl;
as, to
spread
a carpet; to
spread
a tent or a sail
.
He bought a parcel of a field where he had
spread
his tent.
Gen. xxxiii. 19.
Here the Rhone
Hath
spread
himself a couch.
Byron.
2.
To extend so as to cover something; to extend to a great or greater extent in every direction; to cause to fill or cover a wide or wider space.
Rose, as in a dance, the stately trees, and
spread

Their branches hung with copious fruit.
Milton.
3.
To divulge; to publish, as news or fame; to cause to be more extensively known; to disseminate; to make known fully;
as, to
spread
a report; – often accompanied by
abroad
.
They, when they were departed,
spread
abroad his fame in all that country.
Matt. ix. 31.
4.
To propagate; to cause to affect great numbers;
as, to
spread
a disease
.
5.
To diffuse, as emanations or effluvia; to emit;
as, odoriferous plants
spread
their fragrance
.
6.
To strew; to scatter over a surface;
as, to
spread
manure; to
spread
lime on the ground
.
7.
To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions;
as, to
spread
a table
.
Boiled the flesh, and
spread
the board.
Tennyson.
To spread cloth
,
to unfurl sail.
[Obs.]
Evelyn.
Syn. – To diffuse; propagate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense.

Spread

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To extend in length and breadth in all directions, or in breadth only; to be extended or stretched; to expand.
Plants, if they
spread
much, are seldom tall.
Bacon.
Governor Winthrop, and his associates at Charlestown, had for a church a large,
spreading
tree.
B. Trumbull.
2.
To be extended by drawing or beating;
as, some metals
spread
with difficulty
.
3.
To be made known more extensively, as news.
4.
To be propagated from one to another;
as, the disease
spread
into all parts of the city
.
Shak.

Spread

,
Noun.
1.
Extent; compass.
I have got a fine
spread
of improvable land.
Addison.
2.
Expansion of parts.
No flower hath
spread
like that of the woodbine.
Bacon.
3.
A cloth used as a cover for a table or a bed.
4.
A table, as spread or furnished with a meal; hence, an entertainment of food; a feast.
[Colloq.]
5.
A privilege which one person buys of another, of demanding certain shares of stock at a certain price, or of delivering the same shares of stock at another price, within a time agreed upon.
[Brokers’ Cant]
6.
(Geom.)
An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.

Spread

,
imp.
&
p.
p.
of
Spread
,
Verb.
Spread eagle
.
(a)
An eagle with outspread wings, the national emblem of the United States.
(b)
The figure of an eagle, with its wings elevated and its legs extended; often met as a device upon military ornaments, and the like.
(c)
(Her.)
An eagle displayed; an eagle with the wings and legs extended on each side of the body, as in the double-headed eagle of Austria and Russia. See
Displayed
, 2.

Webster 1828 Edition

Spread

SPREAD

, SPRED,
Verb.
T.
pret. and pp. spread or spred. [G., to spread. The more correct orthography is spred.
1.
To extend in length and breadth, or in breadth only; to stretch or expand to a broader surface; as, to spread a carpet or a table cloth; to spread a sheet on the ground.
2.
To extend; to form into a plate; as, to spread silver. Jeremiah 10.
3.
To set; to place; to pitch; as, to spread a tent. Genesis 33.
4.
To cover by extending something; to reach every part.
And an unusual paleness spreads her face.
5.
To extend; to shoot to a greater length in every direction, so as to fill or cover a wider space.
The stately trees fast spread their branches.
6.
To divulge; to propagate; to publish; as news or fame; to cause to be more extensively know; as, to spread a report.
In this use the word is sometimes accompanied with abroad.
They, when they had departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. Matthew 9.
7.
To propagate; to cause to affect greater numbers; as, to spread a disease.
8.
To emit; to diffuse; as emanations or effluvia; as, odoriferous plants spread their fragrance.
9.
To disperse; to scatter over a larger surface; as, to spread manure; to spread plaster or lime on the ground.
10.
To prepare; to set and furnish with provision; as, to spread a table. God spread a table for the Israelites in the wilderness.
11.
To open; to unfold; to unfurl; to stretch; as, to spread the sails of a ship.

SPREAD

, SPRED,
Verb.
I.
1.
To extend itself in length and breadth, in all directions, or in breadth only; to be extended or stretched. The larger elms spread over a space of forty or fifty yards in diameter; or the shade of the larger elms spreads over that space. The larger lakes in America spread over more than fifteen hundred square miles.
Plants, if they spread much, are seldom tall.
2.
To be extended by drawing or beating; as, a metal spreads with difficulty.
3.
To be propagated or made known more extensively. Ill reports sometimes spread with wonderful rapidity.
4.
To be propagated from one to another; as, a disease spreads into all parts of a city. The yellow fever of American cities has not been found to spread in the country.

SPREAD

, SPRED,
Noun.
1.
Extent; compass.
I have a fine spread of improvable land.
2.
Expansion of parts.
No flower has that spread of the woodbind.

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