Spread Definition

sprĕd
spreading, spreads
verb
spreading, spreads
To draw out so as to display more fully; open or stretch out so as to cover more space; unfold or unfurl.
Webster's New World
To be pushed apart or farther apart.
Webster's New World
To move apart (the fingers, arms, legs, wings, etc.)
Webster's New World
To be made widely or more widely known, felt, existent, etc.; be disseminated, propagated, or diffused.
Webster's New World
To lay out in display; exhibit.
Webster's New World
noun
spreads
The act of spreading; extension; expansion; diffusion.
Webster's New World
Dissemination, as of news; diffusion.
American Heritage
The extent to which something is spread or can be spread.
Webster's New World
An expanse; extent; stretch; compass.
Webster's New World
A cloth covering for a bed, table, or other piece of furniture.
American Heritage
Antonyms:
idiom
spread (oneself) thin
  • To work on too many projects: overextend oneself.
American Heritage
spread oneself thin
  • to try to do too many things at once
Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Spread

Noun

Singular:
spread
Plural:
spreads

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Spread

Origin of Spread

  • From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprÇ£dan (“to spread, expand"), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijanÄ… (“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 spreida, spreie (“to spread, disseminate"), Swedish sprida (“to spread").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English spreden from Old English -sprǣdan (as in tōsprǣdan to spread out) sper- in Indo-European roots

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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