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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.

Definition 2024

spread

spread

English

Verb

spread ‎(third-person singular simple present spreads, present participle spreading, simple past and past participle spread)

  1. (transitive) To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space. [from 13th c.]
    He spread his newspaper on the table.‎
  2. (transitive) To extend (individual rays, limbs etc.); to stretch out in varying or opposing directions. [from 13th c.]
    I spread my arms wide and welcomed him home.‎
  3. (transitive) To disperse, to scatter or distribute over a given area. [from 13th c.]
    I spread the rice grains evenly over the floor.‎
  4. (intransitive) To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated. [from 13th c.]
    • 2008, Wikipedia: Age of Enlightenment:
      The movement spread through much of Europe, including Russia and Scandinavia.
    • 2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
      Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. […] One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful.
  5. (transitive) To disseminate; to cause to proliferate, to make (something) widely known or present. [from 14th c.]
    The missionaries quickly spread their new message across the country.‎
  6. (intransitive) To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended. [from 14th c.]
    I dropped my glass; the water spread quickly over the tiled floor.‎
  7. (transitive) To smear, to distribute in a thin layer. [from 16th c.]
    She liked to spread butter on her toast while it was still hot.‎
  8. (transitive) To cover (something) with a thin layer of some substance, as of butter. [from 16th c.]
    He always spreads his toast with peanut butter and strawberry jam.‎
  9. To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions.
    to spread a table
    • Tennyson
      Boiled the flesh, and spread the board.
  10. (intransitive, slang) To open one’s legs, especially for sexual favours. [from 20th c.]
    • 1984, Martin Amis, Money:
      This often sounds like the rap of a demented DJ: the way she moves has got to be good news, can't get loose till I feel the juice— suck and spread, bitch, yeah bounce for me baby.
    • 1991, Tori Amos, Me and a Gun:
      Yes I wore a slinky red thing. Does that mean I should spread for you, your friends, your father, Mr Ed?
    • 2003, Outkast, "Spread" (from the album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below):
      I don't want to move too fast, but / Can't resist your sexy ass / Just spread, spread for me; / (I can't, I can't wait to get you home)

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

spread ‎(plural spreads)

  1. The act of spreading.
    • Francis Bacon
      No flower hath spread like that of the woodbine.
  2. Something that has been spread.
  3. An expanse of land.
    • Addison
      I have got a fine spread of improvable land.
  4. A large tract of land used to raise livestock; a cattle ranch.
    • 2005, Brokeback Mountain, 00:11:50:
      - Can’t wait till I get my own spread and won’t have to put up with Joe Aguirre’s crap no more.
      - I’m savin’ for a place myself.
  5. A piece of material used as a cover (such as a bedspread).
  6. A large meal, especially one laid out on a table.
  7. (bread, etc.) Any form of food designed to be spread such as butters or jams
  8. An item in a newspaper or magazine that occupies more than one column or page.
  9. Two facing pages in a book, newspaper etc.
  10. A numerical difference.
  11. (business, economics) The difference between the wholesale and retail prices.
  12. (trading, economics, finance) The difference between the price of a futures month and the price of another month of the same commodity.
  13. (trading, finance) The purchase of a futures contract of one delivery month against the sale of another futures delivery month of the same commodity.
  14. (trading, finance) The purchase of one delivery month of one commodity against the sale of that same delivery month of a different commodity.
  15. (trading) An arbitrage transaction of the same commodity in two markets, executed to take advantage of a profit from price discrepancies.
  16. (trading) The difference between bidding and asking price.
  17. (finance) The difference between the prices of two similar items.
  18. (geometry) An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.
  19. The surface in proportion to the depth of a cut gemstone.

Synonyms

Translations

item in a newspaper or magazine that occupies more than one column or page

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: expect · nation · legal · #965: spread · enter · consider · provided

Anagrams

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 West Frisian spriede ‎(“to spread”), North Frisian spriedjen ‎(“to spread”), Dutch spreiden ‎(“to spread”), Low German spreden ‎(“to spread”), German spreiten ‎(“to spread, spread out”), Norwegian spre, spreie ‎(“to spread, disseminate”), Swedish sprida ‎(“to spread”), Latin spernō, spargō, Ancient Greek σπείρω ‎(speírō), Persian سپردن ‎(sepordan, “to deposit”), English spurn.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /spɹɛd/
  • Rhymes: -ɛd

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