Adjacent Words

Splay definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SPLAY, v.t. [See Display.]
1. To dislocate or break a horses shoulder bone.
2. To spread. [Little used.]
SPLAY, for display. [Not in use.]
SPLAY, a. Displayed; spread; turned outward.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: turned outward in an ungainly manner; "splay knees" n
1: an outward bevel around a door or window that makes it seem larger v
1: spread open or apart; "He splayed his huge hands over the table"
2: turn outward; "These birds can splay out their toes"; "ballet dancers can rotate their legs out by 90 degrees" [syn: turn out, splay, spread out, rotate]
3: move out of position; "dislocate joints"; "the artificial hip joint luxated and had to be put back surgically" [syn: dislocate, luxate, splay, slip]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English, short for displayen — more at display Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to cause to spread outward 2. to make oblique ; bevel intransitive verb 1. to extend apart or outward especially in an awkward manner 2. slope, slant II. noun Date: circa 1508 1. a slope or bevel especially of the sides of a door or window 2. spread, expansion III. adjective Date: 1548 1. turned outward <splay knees> 2. awkward, ungainly

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v., n., & adj. --v. 1 tr. (usu. foll. by out) spread (the elbows, feet, etc.) out. 2 intr. (of an aperture or its sides) diverge in shape or position. 3 tr. construct (a window, doorway, aperture, etc.) so that it diverges or is wider at one side of the wall than the other. --n. a surface making an oblique angle with another, e.g. the splayed side of a window or embrasure. --adj. 1 wide and flat. 2 turned outward. Phrases and idioms: splay-foot a broad flat foot turned outward. splay-footed having such feet. Etymology: ME f. DISPLAY

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Splay Splay, a. (Arch.) A slope or bevel, especially of the sides of a door or window, by which the opening is made larged at one face of the wall than at the other, or larger at each of the faces than it is between them.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Splay Splay, v. t. [Abbrev. of display.] 1. To display; to spread. [Obs.] ``Our ensigns splayed.'' --Gascoigne. 2. To dislocate, as a shoulder bone. 3. To spay; to castrate. [Obs. or Prov. Eng.] 4. To turn on one side; to render oblique; to slope or slant, as the side of a door, window, etc. --Oxf. Gloss.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Splay Splay, a. Displayed; spread out; turned outward; hence, flat; ungainly; as, splay shoulders. Sonwthing splay, something blunt-edged, unhandy, and infelicitous. --M. Arnold.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(splays, splaying, splayed) If things splay or are splayed, their ends are spread out away from each other. He splayed his fingers across his face... His fingers splay out in a star shape... He was on his stomach, his legs splayed apart. VERB: V n, V adv/prep, V-ed

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. (Arch.) 1. Slope (as the side of a window), slant. 2. Dislocate, sprain. II. a. Wide, broad, spreading out, turned out.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrate, addition, adjunct, aggrandizement, ampliation, amplification, attenuation, augmentation, awkward, bestrew, branch, branch out, broadcast, broadcasting, broadening, circumfuse, circumfusion, crescendo, deal out, deltoid, deploy, deployment, diffract, diffraction, diffuse, diffusion, dilution, dispensation, dispense, dispersal, disperse, dispersion, dispread, disseminate, dissemination, dissipation, distribute, distribution, divaricate, diverge, divergence, divide, enlargement, evaporation, expand, expansion, extend, extension, fan, fan out, fan-shape, fan-shaped, fanlike, fanned, fanning, fanning out, flabelliform, flare, flared, flaring, fragmentation, gawky, go away, go off, hiking, increase, issue, lumbering, lumpish, magnification, open, open up, outspread, outstretch, outstretched, overgrow, overrun, overscatter, oversow, overspread, patulous, peppering, propagate, propagation, publication, publish, radiate, radiation, raising, ramify, retail, scatter, scattering, scatterment, separate, shotgun pattern, sow, sow broadcast, sowing, spattering, splayed, splaying, spraddle, spraddled, spraddling, sprangle, sprangled, sprangling, sprawl, sprawling, sprawly, spread, spread like wildfire, spread out, spreading, sprinkling, stretched-out, strew, strewing, unfold, unfolded, ungainly, upping, utter, volatilization, wide-open, widen, widening, widespread