Adjacent Words

Spread definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SPREAD, SPRED, v.t. pret. and pp. spread or spred. [G., to spread. The more correct orthography is spred.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: distributed or spread over a considerable extent; "has ties with many widely dispersed friends"; "eleven million Jews are spread throughout Europe" [syn: dispersed, spread]
2: prepared or arranged for a meal; especially having food set out; "a table spread with food"
3: fully extended in width; "outspread wings"; "with arms spread wide" [syn: outspread, spread] n
1: process or result of distributing or extending over a wide expanse of space [syn: spread, spreading]
2: a conspicuous disparity or difference as between two figures; "gap between income and outgo"; "the spread between lending and borrowing costs" [syn: gap, spread]
3: farm consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock (especially cattle) [syn: ranch, spread, cattle ranch, cattle farm]
4: a haphazard distribution in all directions [syn: scatter, spread]
5: a tasty mixture to be spread on bread or crackers or used in preparing other dishes [syn: spread, paste]
6: a meal that is well prepared and greatly enjoyed; "a banquet for the graduating seniors"; "the Thanksgiving feast"; "they put out quite a spread" [syn: banquet, feast, spread]
7: two facing pages of a book or other publication [syn: spread, spread head, spreadhead, facing pages]
8: the expansion of a person's girth (especially at middle age); "she exercised to avoid that middle-aged spread"
9: decorative cover for a bed [syn: bedspread, bedcover, bed cover, bed covering, counterpane, spread]
10: act of extending over a wider scope or expanse of space or time [syn: spread, spreading] v
1: distribute or disperse widely; "The invaders spread their language all over the country" [syn: spread, distribute] [ant: collect, garner, gather, pull together]
2: become distributed or widespread; "the infection spread"; "Optimism spread among the population" [syn: spread, propagate]
3: spread across or over; "A big oil spot spread across the water" [syn: spread, overspread]
4: spread out or open from a closed or folded state; "open the map"; "spread your arms" [syn: unfold, spread, spread out, open] [ant: fold, fold up, turn up]
5: cause to become widely known; "spread information"; "circulate a rumor"; "broadcast the news" [syn: circulate, circularize, circularise, distribute, disseminate, propagate, broadcast, spread, diffuse, disperse, pass around]
6: become widely known and passed on; "the rumor spread"; "the story went around in the office" [syn: go around, spread, circulate]
7: strew or distribute over an area; "He spread fertilizer over the lawn"; "scatter cards across the table" [syn: spread, scatter, spread out]
8: move outward; "The soldiers fanned out" [syn: diffuse, spread, spread out, fan out]
9: cover by spreading something over; "spread the bread with cheese"
10: distribute over a surface in a layer; "spread cheese on a piece of bread"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (spread; spreading) Etymology: Middle English spreden, from Old English -spr?dan; akin to Old High German spreiten to spread Date: 13th century transitive verb 1. a. to open or expand over a larger area <spread out the map> b. to stretch out ; extend <spread its wings for flight> 2. a. to distribute over an area <spread fertilizer> b. to distribute over a period or among a group <spread the work over a few weeks> c. to apply on a surface <spread butter on bread> d. (1) to cover or overlay something with <spread the cloth on the table> (2) archaic to cover completely e. (1) to prepare or furnish for dining ; set <spread the table> (2) serve <spread the afternoon tea> 3. a. to make widely known <spread the news> b. to extend the range or incidence of <spread a disease> c. diffuse, emit <flowers spreading their fragrance> 4. to push apart by weight or force intransitive verb 1. a. to become dispersed, distributed, or scattered b. to become known or disseminated <panic spread rapidly> 2. to grow in length or breadth ; expand 3. to move apart (as from pressure or weight) ; separate • spreadability noun • spreadable adjective II. noun Date: 1626 1. a. the act or process of spreading b. extent of spreading 2. something spread out: as a. a surface area ; expanse b. (1) a ranch or homestead especially in the western United States (2) West a herd of animals c. (1) a prominent display in a periodical (2) two facing pages (as of a newspaper) usually with matter running across the fold; also the matter occupying these pages 3. something spread on or over a surface: as a. a food to be spread (as on bread or crackers) <a cheese spread> b. a sumptuous meal ; feast c. a cloth cover for a table or bed 4. distance between two points ; gap 5. a commodities market transaction in which a participant hedges with simultaneous long and short options in different commodities or different delivery dates in the same commodity

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. (past and past part. spread) 1 tr. (often foll. by out) a open or extend the surface of. b cause to cover a larger surface (spread butter on bread). c display to the eye or the mind (the view was spread out before us). 2 intr. (often foll. by out) have a wide or specified or increasing extent (on every side spread a vast desert; spreading trees). 3 intr. & tr. become or make widely known, felt, etc. (rumours are spreading; spread a little happiness). 4 tr. a cover the surface of (spread the wall with paint; a meadow spread with daisies). b lay (a table). --n. 1 the act or an instance of spreading. 2 capability of expanding (has a large spread). 3 diffusion (spread of learning). 4 breadth, compass (arches of equal spread). 5 an aircraft's wing-span. 6 increased bodily girth (middle-aged spread). 7 the difference between two rates, prices, etc. 8 colloq. an elaborate meal. 9 a sweet or savoury paste for spreading on bread etc. 10 a bedspread. 11 printed matter spread across two facing pages or across more than one column. 12 US a ranch with extensive land. Phrases and idioms: spread eagle 1 a representation of an eagle with legs and wings extended as an emblem. 2 hist. a person secured with arms and legs spread out, esp. to be flogged. spread-eagle v.tr. (usu. as spread-eagled adj.) ) 1 place (a person) in this position. 2 defeat utterly. 3 spread out. --adj. US bombastic, esp. noisily patriotic. spread oneself be lavish or discursive. spread one's wings see WING. Derivatives: spreadable adj. spreader n. Etymology: OE -sprædan f. WG

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spread Spread, n. 1. An arbitrage transaction operated by buying and selling simultaneously in two separate markets, as Chicago and New York, when there is an abnormal difference in price between the two markets. It is called a back spreadwhen the difference in price is less than the normal one. 2. (Gems) Surface in proportion to the depth of a cut stone.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spread Spread, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spread; p. pr. & vb. n. Spreading.] [OE. spreden, AS. spr[ae]dan; 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 grater 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 acompanied 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; propogate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spread Spread, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spread; p. pr. & vb. n. Spreading.] [OE. spreden, AS. spr[ae]dan; 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 grater 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 acompanied 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; propogate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spread Spread, imp. & p. p. of Spread, v. 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's 1913 Dictionary

Spread Spread, v. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spread Spread, n. 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(spreads, spreading, spread) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. If you spread something somewhere, you open it out or arrange it over a place or surface, so that all of it can be seen or used easily. She spread a towel on the sand and lay on it... VERB: V n prep • Spread out means the same as spread. He extracted several glossy prints and spread them out on a low coffee table... In his room, Tom was spreading out a map of Scandinavia on the bed. PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron) 2. If you spread your arms, hands, fingers, or legs, you stretch them out until they are far apart. Sitting on the floor, spread your legs as far as they will go without overstretching... He stepped back and spread his hands wide. 'You are most welcome to our home.' VERB: V n adv, V n adj • Spread out means the same as spread. David made a gesture, spreading out his hands as if he were showing that he had no explanation to make... You need a bed that's large enough to let you spread yourself out. PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P 3. If you spread a substance on a surface or spread the surface with the substance, you put a thin layer of the substance over the surface. Spread the mixture in the cake tin and bake for 30 minutes... Spread the bread with the cheese. VERB: V n prep, V n with n 4. Spread is a soft food which is put on bread. ...a wholemeal salad roll with low fat spread. N-MASS: usu supp N 5. If something spreads or is spread by people, it gradually reaches or affects a larger and larger area or more and more people. The industrial revolution which started a couple of hundred years ago in Europe is now spreading across the world. ...the sense of fear spreading in residential neighborhoods... He was fed-up with the lies being spread about him. VERB: V prep/adv, V, V n • Spread is also a noun. The greatest hope for reform is the gradual spread of information... N-SING: usu the N of n 6. If something such as a liquid, gas, or smoke spreads or is spread, it moves outwards in all directions so that it covers a larger area. Fire spread rapidly after a chemical truck exploded... A dark red stain was spreading across his shirt... In Northern California, a wildfire has spread a haze of smoke over 200 miles. VERB: V, V prep, V n prep • Spread is also a noun. The situation was complicated by the spread of a serious forest fire. N-SING 7. If you spread something over a period of time, it takes place regularly or continuously over that period, rather than happening at one time. There seems to be little difference whether you eat all your calorie allowance in one go, or spread it over the day... VERB: V n over n 8. If you spread something such as wealth or work, you distribute it evenly or equally. ...policies that spread the state's wealth more evenly... VERB: V n • Spread is also a noun. There are easier ways to encourage the even spread of wealth. N-SING: usu N of n 9. A spread of ideas, interests, or other things is a wide variety of them. A topic-based approach can be hard to assess in primary schools with a typical spread of ability... = range N-SING: usu N of n 10. A spread is a large meal, especially one that has been prepared for a special occasion. N-COUNT 11. A spread is two pages of a book, magazine, or newspaper that are opposite each other when you open it at a particular place. There was a double-page spread of a dinner for 46 people. N-COUNT 12. Spread is used to refer to the difference between the price that a seller wants someone to pay for a particular stock or share and the price that the buyer is willing to pay. (BUSINESS) Market makers earn their livings from the spread between buying and selling prices. N-SING 13. to spread your wings: see wing

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Extend, expand, mantle, stretch, dilate. 2. Disperse, scatter, distribute. 3. Publish, divulge, propagate, disseminate, circulate, promulgate, make known, make public, spread abroad. 4. Propagate, spread, disseminate. 5. Emit, diffuse, scatter. 6. Prepare, make ready, furnish, cover, set with food. 7. Unfold, unfurl, open. 8. Cover, overspread, extend over. II. n. 1. Extend, be expanded. 2. Be dispersed, be scattered. 3. Circulate, be circulated, be spread abroad. III. n. 1. Extent, reach, compass. 2. Extension, expansion. 3. Dissemination, circulation, propagation. 4. Cover, cloth.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

Butter.

Moby Thesaurus

aberrate, aberration, accelerated, access, accessible, accession, accretion, accrual, accrue, accruement, accumbent, accumulate, accumulation, acreage, addition, adjunct, advance, advertise, affirmed, afghan, aggrandized, aggrandizement, air, airing, ampliation, amplification, amplified, amplitude, announce, announced, apply, appreciate, appreciation, area, ascent, assign, attenuation, augmentation, augmented, balloon, ballooning, bandying, banner, banner head, banquet, barbecue, beam, become public, bed linen, bedaub, bedclothes, bedcover, bedding, bedsheet, bedspread, beefed-up, besmear, bestrew, bigness, blanket, bloat, bloated, bloating, board, body, book, boom, boost, boosted, boundaries, boundary, bounds, branch, branch out, bread, bread and butter, breadth, break, breed, broach, broadcast, broadcasting, broaden, broadened, broadening, broadness, brought to notice, bruit about, bruiting, bruiting about, buffalo robe, buildup, bulk, butter, buzz about, caliber, call, caption, carry, carry over, case, centrifugence, cheer, chink, circulate, circulated, circulation, circumfuse, circumfusion, cleave, cloak, clothes, coat, come forth, come out, comestibles, comfort, comforter, common knowledge, common property, communicate, communication, compass, conduction, confiture, conserve, consign, contagion, contour sheet, convection, couchant, couche, counterpane, cover, coverage, coverlet, coverlid, crack, crawling, creature comfort, crescendo, crevasse, cuisine, current, cut, cut open, dab, daily bread, daub, deal, deal in generalities, deal out, decentralization, declared, decumbent, deepen, deepened, deliver, delivery, deltoid, deploy, deployment, deport, deportation, depth, develop, developing, development, deviation, diameter, diapedesis, difference, diffract, diffraction, diffuse, diffused, diffusion, dilution, dimension, dimensions, dinner, discrete, dispart, dispel, dispensation, dispense, dispersal, disperse, dispersed, dispersion, display, dispread, disseminate, disseminated, dissemination, dissipate, dissipated, dissipation, distance, distance across, distribute, distributed, distribution, divaricate, divarication, diverge, divergence, divergency, divide, division, drag out, draped, draw out, drop head, dropline, eatables, ecumenicize, edema, edibles, eiderdown, elevated, elevation, emanate, emptiness, empty space, enamel, encompass, enhanced, enlarge, enlarged, enlargement, enlarging, entertainment, environ, epigraph, evaporation, evulgation, expand, expanded, expanding, expanse, expansion, expel, export, exportation, expulsion, extend, extended, extending, extension, extent, extradite, extradition, fan, fan out, fan-shape, fan-shaped, fanlike, fanned, fanning, fanning out, fare, farm, fast food, feast, feed, field, find vent, fissure, fitted sheet, flabelliform, flare, flared, flaring, flat, flood, fly about, fly open, food, food and drink, foodstuff, fragmentation, fullness, gain, gain strength, galactic space, gauge, generalize, get about, get abroad, get afloat, get ahead, get around, get exposure, gild, girth, glaze, globalize, gloss, go, go about, go away, go forth, go off, go out, go the rounds, go up, greatening, greatness, groveling, grow, growth, gush, hand forward, hand on, hand over, hanger, have currency, head, heading, headline, health food, height, heightened, herald, hike, hiked, hiking, hold, holding, homestead, impart, import, importation, in circulation, in print, incise, increase, increased, increasing, increment, infinite space, inflated, inflation, ingesta, intensified, intensify, interchange, interstellar space, issuance, issue, jam, jazzed up, jelly, jump, jump head, junk food, kitchen stuff, lacquer, landholding, lap robe, largeness, latitude, lay, lay on, lay open, lay out, layer, leap, legend, length, lie, limits, linen, lolling, lounging, lying, made public, magnification, magnified, magnitude, make a generalization, make known, make over, make public, mantle, margarine, mass, meal, measure, measurement, meat, mess, metastasis, metastasize, metathesis, metathesize, metempsychosis, migration, motto, mount, mounting, multiplication, multiplied, multiply, mushroom, mushrooming, mutual transfer, nothingness, oleo, ope, open, open up, osmosis, outer space, outspread, outstretch, outstretched, overgrow, overlay, overline, overrun, overscatter, oversow, overspread, paint, part, pass, pass on, pass over, pass the buck, passage, passing over, paste, patchwork quilt, patulous, peddle, peppering, perfuse, perfusion, periodical, pillow slip, pillowcase, place, plantation, plaster, plate, preserve, prime, printing, proclaimed, procumbent, productiveness, profusion, proliferate, proliferated, proliferating, proliferation, prolong, promulgate, promulgation, prone, pronounce, propagate, propagated, propagation, property, proportion, proportions, prostrate, protract, provender, provision, public, publication, publicize, publish, published, publishing, push, put, put and call, put apart, put out, quilt, radiate, radiation, radius, raise, raised, raising, ramify, ranch, range, ray, reach, reach out, recite, reclining, recumbent, refection, refreshment, regale, regalement, reinforced, relay, rent, repas, repast, repeat, reported, reposing, resupine, retail, rift, right, rip, rise, rive, robe, rub, rubric, rug, run, run up, running head, running title, scale, scarehead, scatter, scattered, scattering, scatterment, scope, screamer, see the light, separate, separation, set, shed, sheet, sheeting, shoot up, shotgun pattern, size, slap on, slather, slip, slit, smear, smear on, smooth, snowball, snowballing, sow, sow broadcast, sowing, space, span, sparse, spatial extension, spattering, sphere, splay, splayed, splaying, split, sporadic, spraddle, spraddled, spraddling, sprangle, sprangled, sprangling, sprawl, sprawled, sprawling, sprawly, spread about, spread like wildfire, spread on, spread out, spread with, spreadhead, spreading, spreading abroad, spreading out, spring open, sprinkling, stated, stiffened, stock option, straddle, straggling, straggly, strap, streamer, strengthen, strengthened, stretch, stretch out, stretched-out, strew, strewing, strewn, strip, strown, subhead, subheading, subtitle, superficial extension, superscription, supine, surface, surge, surround, sustenance, swaddle, sweep, swell, swelling, swing open, switch, swollen, table, take in, tap, tar, tear, tear open, telecast, telecasting, televise, televised, throw, throw open, thrust out, tightened, title, title page, tract, transduction, transfer, transfer of property, transfer property, transference, transfuse, transfusion, transit, transition, translate, translation, translocate, translocation, transmigration, transmigration of souls, transmission, transmit, transmittal, transmittance, transplace, transplacement, transplant, transplantation, transposal, transpose, transposition, travel, treat, trumpet, tucker, tumescence, turn over, undercoat, unfold, unfolded, unfurl, universalize, unroll, up, upping, upsurge, upswing, uptrend, upturn, utter, varnish, vastness, ventilation, viands, victuals, vittles, void, volatilization, volume, wash, wax, waxing, wide-open, widen, widened, wideness, widening, widespread, width, wrap