Spread definition
To open to a fuller extent or width; stretch.
Spread out the tablecloth; a bird spreading its wings.
verb
To cause to become widely seen or known; scatter or disseminate.
Spread the news; spread the beam of the flashlight.
verb
To make wider the gap between; move farther apart.
Spread her fingers.
verb
To flatten (a rivet end, for example) by pounding.
verb
To distribute over a surface in a layer.
Spread varnish on the steps.
verb
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Spread is defined as to lay open, stretch out, or smear.
An example of to spread is unfolding and laying out a blanket for a picnic.
An example of to spread is the phrase spread out, someone laying on their back with their arms fully extended.
An example of to spread is using a knife to cover a piece of toast with peanut butter.
verb
To make a wide or extensive arrangement of.
We spread the bicycle parts out on the floor.
verb
To exhibit or display the full extent of.
The scene that was spread before us.
verb
To prepare (a table) for eating; set.
verb
To be pushed apart or farther apart.
verb
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The act of spreading or something that has been spread.
noun
To cover with a layer.
Spread a cracker with butter.
verb
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To arrange (food or a meal) on a table.
verb
To be extended or enlarged.
The farm fields spread to the horizon.
verb
To move over an area, be distributed, or be widely dispersed.
The troops spread out across the field. The volcano's ash spread over the continent.
verb
To become known or prevalent over a wide area.
The word spread fast.
verb
To be exhibited, displayed, or visible in broad or full extent.
The vista spread seemingly to infinity.
verb
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To become or admit of being distributed in a layer.
This paint spreads really well.
verb
To become separated; be forced farther apart.
The land masses spread until there was an ocean between them.
verb
A number of points offered to equalize the chances of winning in a wager on a competition, usually between sports teams.
noun
Wingspread.
noun
The act or process of spreading.
The spread of disease.
noun
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Dissemination, as of news; diffusion.
noun
An open area of land; an expanse.
noun
A ranch, farm, or estate.
noun
Two facing pages of a magazine, newspaper, or book, considered as a unit.
noun
An article or advertisement running across two or more columns of a newspaper or magazine.
noun
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A difference, as between two figures or totals.
What's the spread between tallest and shortest?
noun
A position taken in two or more options or futures contracts in order to profit from a change in their relative prices.
noun
The difference between the price asked and bid for a particular security.
noun
The difference in yields between two fixed-income securities, as between short-term and long-term bonds.
noun
To extend or prolong in time.
To spread payments over a two-year period.
verb
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To cause to be widely or more widely known, felt, existent, etc.; disseminate; propagate; diffuse.
To spread news, a disease, etc.
verb
To cover, overlay, or deck (with something)
verb
To push apart or farther apart.
verb
To record in full; enter (on a record)
verb
To flatten out (a rivet, etc.) by hammering.
verb
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To distribute over a surface or area; scatter; disperse.
verb
To distribute among a group.
To spread the wealth.
verb
To distribute in a thin layer; smear.
To spread butter on toast.
verb
To cover by smearing (with something)
To spread bread with jelly.
verb
To set (a table) for a meal.
verb
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To set (food) on a table.
verb
To extend itself; be extended or expanded.
verb
To become distributed or dispersed.
verb
To be made widely or more widely known, felt, existent, etc.; be disseminated, propagated, or diffused.
verb
To be of such consistency that it can be distributed in a thin layer, as butter; be capable of being smeared.
verb
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The act of spreading; extension; expansion; diffusion.
noun
An expanse; extent; stretch; compass.
noun
Any soft substance, as jam or margarine, used for spreading on bread or crackers.
noun
A broadening, as of a weight-gainer's hips and waistline.
Middle-age spread.
noun
(informal) A lavish meal, esp. one with a wide variety of food.
noun
A ranch, or any large farm or estate.
noun
The extent to which something is spread or can be spread.
noun
The interval or difference between the highest and lowest figures of a set, as of the scores of a test.
noun
The difference between related prices, rates, etc., as that between the prices at which a broker buys and sells shares of a stock.
noun
In betting, the number of points by which a team, esp. a football team, is expected to defeat its opponent.
noun
Two facing pages of a newspaper, magazine, etc., treated as a single continuous sheet, as in advertising.
noun
Printed matter set across a page, or across several columns, of a newspaper, magazine, etc.
noun
The difference between a security’s purchase price and its selling price. The term is used in many different contexts. For underwriters of bond or stock offerings, the spread is the difference between what underwriters pay for the security and what they sell it for; the spread provides the basic compensation to the underwriters. In futures trading, the spread is called a bid/ask spread. It is the difference between what a futures contract can be purchased at and what it can be sold at. The ask price, or the price at which something is sold, nearly always will be higher than the bid price. Market makers make their profit on the spread.
(intransitive) To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated. [from 13th c.]
verb
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.
verb
(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.
verb
To smear, to distribute in a thin layer. [from 16th c.]
She liked to spread butter on her toast while it was still hot.
verb
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.
verb
To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions.
To spread a table.
verb
(trading, economics, finance) The difference between the price of a futures month and the price of another month of the same commodity.
noun
To distribute widely.
The tornado spread destruction.
verb
The extent or limit to which something is or can be spread.
The tree's canopy has a spread of 50 feet.
noun
A cloth covering for a bed, table, or other piece of furniture.
noun
(informal) An abundant meal laid out on a table.
noun
A food to be spread on bread or crackers.
noun
To draw out so as to display more fully; open or stretch out so as to cover more space; unfold or unfurl.
verb
To lay out in display; exhibit.
verb
To move apart (the fingers, arms, legs, wings, etc.)
verb
A large tract of land used to raise livestock; a cattle ranch.
noun
spread (oneself) thin
- To work on too many projects: overextend oneself.
idiom
spread oneself thin
- to try to do too many things at once
idiom
Other Word Forms
Noun
Singular:
spread
Plural:
spreadsIdioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of spread
- 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
- 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