Spread

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Spread, v. t. [OE. spreden, AS. sprædan; akin to D. spreiden, spreijen, LG. spreden, spreen, spreien, G. spreiten, Dan. sprede, Sw. sprida. Cf. Spray water flying in drops.].

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "He bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent."  [1913 Webster]

  "Here the Rhone
  Hath spread himself a couch."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "Rose, as in a dance, the stately trees, and spread
  Their branches hung with copious fruit."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "They, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country."  [1913 Webster]
•  To propagate; to cause to affect great numbers; as, to spread a disease.  [1913 Webster]
•  To diffuse, as emanations or effluvia; to emit; as, odoriferous plants spread their fragrance.  [1913 Webster]
•  To strew; to scatter over a surface; as, to spread manure; to spread lime on the ground.  [1913 Webster]
•  To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions; as, to spread a table.  [1913 Webster]

  "Boiled the flesh, and spread the board."  [1913 Webster]

To spread cloth, to unfurl sail. [Obs.] Evelyn.

Syn. -- To diffuse; propagate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense.

Spread, v. i. 

•  To extend in length and breadth in all directions, or in breadth only; to be extended or stretched; to expand.  [1913 Webster]

  "Plants, if they spread much, are seldom tall."  [1913 Webster]

  "Governor Winthrop, and his associates at Charlestown, had for a church a large, spreading tree."  [1913 Webster]
•  To be extended by drawing or beating; as, some metals spread with difficulty.  [1913 Webster]
•  To be made known more extensively, as news.  [1913 Webster]
•  To be propagated from one to another; as, the disease spread into all parts of the city.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]

Spread, n. 

•  Extent; compass.  [1913 Webster]

  "I have got a fine spread of improvable land."  [1913 Webster]
•  Expansion of parts.  [1913 Webster]

  "No flower hath spread like that of the woodbine."  [1913 Webster]
•  A cloth used as a cover for a table or a bed.  [1913 Webster]
•  A table, as spread or furnished with a meal; hence, an entertainment of food; a feast.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]
•  An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  Surface in proportion to the depth of a cut stone.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

Spread, imp. & p. p. 

 imp. & p. p. of Spread, v.  [1913 Webster]

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.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Spread, 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.

Idiom

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.

Derivative

spreadable adj. spreader n.

Etymology

OE -spr{aelig}dan f. WG

THESAURUS

Spread

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

ROGET THESAURUS

Spread

Increase

N increase, augmentation, enlargement, extension, dilatation, increment, accretion, accession, development, growth, aggrandizement, aggravation, rise, ascent, exaggeration exacerbation, spread, flood tide, gain, produce, product, profit, increased, on the increase, undiminished, additional, crescendo, vires acquirit eundo.

VB increase, augment, add to, enlarge, dilate, grow, wax, get ahead, gain strength, advance, run up, shoot up, rise, ascend, sprout, aggrandize, raise, exalt, deepen, heighten, strengthen, intensify, enhance, magnify, redouble, aggravate, exaggerate, exasperate, exacerbate, add fuel to the flame, oleum addere camino, superadd, spread.

Dispersion

N nonassemblage, dispersion, dispersion, disjunction, divergence, aspersion, scattering, dissemination, diffusion, dissipation, distribution, apportionment, spread, respersion, circumfusion, interspersion, spargefaction, affusion, waifs and estrays, flotsam and jetsam, disjecta membra waveson, unassembled &c (assemble), dispersed, sparse, dispread, broadcast, sporadic, widespread, epidemic, adrift, stray, disheveled, streaming, sparsim, here and there, passim.

VB disperse, scatter, sow, broadcast, disseminate, diffuse, shed, spread, bestrew, overspread, dispense, disband, disembody, dismember, distribute, apportion, blow off, let out, dispel, cast forth, draught off, strew, straw, strow, ted, spirtle, cast, sprinkle, issue, deal out, retail, utter, resperse, intersperse, set abroach, circumfuse, turn adrift, cast adrift, scatter to the winds, spread like wildfire, disperse themselves.

Space

N space, extension, extent, superficial extent, expanse, stretch, hyperspace, room, scope, range, field, way, expansion, compass, sweep, swing, spread, dimension, length, distance, size, volume, hypervolume, latitude, play, leeway, purchase, tolerance, room for maneuver, spare room, elbow room, house room, stowage, roomage, margin, opening, sphere, arena, open space, free space, void, waste, wildness, wilderness, moor, moorland, campagna, abyss, unlimited space, infinity, world, ubiquity, length and breadth of the land, proportions, acreage, acres, acres and perches, roods and perches, hectares, square miles, square inches, square yards, square centimeters, square meters, yards (clothing), ares, arpents, spacious, roomy, extensive, expansive, capacious, ample, widespread, vast, world-wide, uncircumscribed, boundless, shoreless, trackless, pathless, extended, extensively, wherever, everywhere, far and near, far and wide, right and left, all over, all the world over, throughout the world, throughout the length and breadth of the land, under the sun, in every quarter, in all quarters, in all lands, here there and everywhere, from pole to pole, from China to Peru, from Indus to the pole, from Dan to Beersheba, from end to end, on the face of the earth, in the wide world, from all points of the compass, to the four winds, to the uttermost parts of the earth.

Expansion

N expansion, increase of size, enlargement, extension, augmentation, amplification, ampliation, aggrandizement, spread, increment, growth, development, pullulation, swell, dilation, rarefaction, turgescence, turgidness, turgidity, dispansion, obesity, hydrocephalus, hydrophthalmus, dropsy, tumefaction, intumescence, swelling, tumor, diastole, distension, puffing, puffiness, inflation, pandiculation, dilatability, expansibility, germination, growth, upgrowth, accretion, budding, gemmation, overgrowth, overdistension, hypertrophy, tympany, bulb, plumper, superiority of size, big bang, Hubble constant, expanded larger, &c (large), swollen, expansive, wide open, wide spread, flabelliform, overgrown, exaggerated, bloated, fat, turgid, tumid, hypertrophied, dropsical, pot bellied, swag bellied, edematous, oedematous, obese, puffy, pursy, blowzy, bigswoln, distended, patulous, bulbous, full blown, full grown, full formed, big, abdominous, enchymatous, rhipidate, tumefacient, tumefying.

VB become larger &c (large), expand, widen, enlarge, extend, grow, increase, incrassate, swell, gather, fill out, deploy, take open order, dilate, stretch, distend, spread, mantle, wax, grow up, spring up, bud, bourgeon, shoot, sprout, germinate, put forth, vegetate, pullulate, open, burst forth, gain flesh, gather flesh, outgrow, spread like wildfire, overrun, be larger than, surpass, render larger &c (large), expand, spread, extend, aggrandize, distend, develop, amplify, spread out, widen, magnify, rarefy, inflate, puff, blow up, stuff, pad, cram, exaggerate, fatten, become larger &c (large), expand, widen, enlarge, extend, grow, increase, incrassate, swell, gather, fill out, deploy, take open order, dilate, stretch, distend, spread, mantle, wax, grow up, spring up, bud, bourgeon, shoot, sprout, germinate, put forth, vegetate, pullulate, open, burst forth, gain flesh, gather flesh, outgrow, spread like wildfire, overrun, be larger than, surpass, render larger &c (large), expand, spread, extend, aggrandize, distend, develop, amplify, spread out, widen, magnify, rarefy, inflate, puff, blow up, stuff, pad, cram, exaggerate, fatten.

Divergence

VB diverge, divaricate, radiate, ramify, branch off, glance off, file off, fly off, fly off at a tangent, spread, scatter, disperse, deviate, part.

Food

N food, eating, deglutition, gulp, epulation, mastication, manducation, rumination, gluttony, hippophagy, ichthyophagy, (appetite), mouth, jaws, mandible, mazard, gob, chops, drinking, potation, draught, libation, carousal, drunkenness, food, pabulum, aliment, nourishment, nutriment, sustenance, sustentation, sustention, nurture, subsistence, provender, corn, feed, fodder, provision, ration, keep, commons, board, commissariat, prey, forage, pasture, pasturage, fare, cheer, diet, dietary, regimen, belly timber, staff of life, bread, bread and cheese, comestibles, eatables, victuals, edibles, ingesta, grub, grubstake, prog, meat, bread, bread stuffs, cerealia, cereals, viands, cates, delicacy, dainty, creature comforts, contents of the larder, fleshpots, festal board, ambrosia, good cheer, good living, beef, bisquit, bun, cornstarch, cookie, cooky, cracker, doughnut, fatling, hardtack, hoecake, hominy, mutton, pilot bread, pork, roti, rusk, ship biscuit, veal, joint, piece de resistance, roast and boiled, remove, entremet, releve, hash, rechauffe, stew, ragout, fricassee, mince, pottage, potage, broth, soup, consomme, puree, spoonmeat, pie, pasty, volauvent, pudding, omelet, pastry, sweets, kickshaws, condiment, appetizer, hors d'oeuvre, main course, entree, alligator pear, apple, apple slump, artichoke, ashcake, griddlecake, pancake, flapjack, atole, avocado, banana, beche de mer, barbecue, beefsteak, beet root, blackberry, blancmange, bloater, bouilli, bouillon, breadfruit, chop suey, chowder, chupatty, clam, compote, damper, fish, frumenty, grapes, hasty pudding, ice cream, lettuce, mango, mangosteen, mince pie, oatmeal, oyster, pineapple, porridge, porterhouse steak, salmis, sauerkraut, sea slug, sturgeon ("Albany beef"), succotash, supawn, trepang, vanilla, waffle, walnut, table, cuisine, bill of fare, menu, table d'hote, ordinary, entree, meal, repast, feed, spread, mess, dish, plate, course, regale, regalement, refreshment, entertainment, refection, collation, picnic, feast, banquet, junket, breakfast, lunch, luncheon, dejeuner, bever, tiffin, dinner, supper, snack, junk food, fast food, whet, bait, dessert, potluck, table d'hote, dejeuner a la fourchette, hearty meal, square meal, substantial meal, full meal, blowout, light refreshment, bara, chotahazri, bara khana, mouthful, bolus, gobbet, morsel, sop, sippet, drink, beverage, liquor, broth, soup, potion, dram, draught, drench, swill, nip, sip, sup, gulp, wine, spirits, liqueur, beer, ale, malt liquor, Sir John Barleycorn, stingo, heavy wet, grog, toddy, flip, purl, punch, negus, cup, bishop, wassail, gin, coffee, chocolate, cocoa, tea, the cup that cheers but not inebriates, bock beer, lager beer, Pilsener beer, schenck beer, Brazil tea, cider, claret, ice water, mate, mint julep, near beer, 2 beer, non- alcoholic beverage, eating house, diner, hippophage, glutton, eatable, edible, esculent, comestible, alimentary, cereal, cibarious, dietetic, culinary, nutritive, nutritious, gastric, succulent, potable, potulent, bibulous, omnivorous, carnivorous, herbivorous, granivorous, graminivorous, phytivorous, ichthyivorous, omophagic, omophagous, pantophagous, phytophagous, xylophagous, across the walnuts and the wine, blessed hour of our dinners!, now good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both!, who can cloy the hungry edge of appetite?.

Publication

VB publish, make public, make known, speak of, talk of, broach, utter, put forward, circulate, propagate, promulgate, spread, spread abroad, rumor, diffuse, disseminate, evulugate, put forth, give forth, send forth, emit, edit, get out, issue, bring before the public, lay before the public, drag before the public, give out, give to the world, put about, bandy about, hawk about, buzz about, whisper about, bruit about, blaze about, drag into the open day, voice, proclaim, herald, blazon, blaze abroad, noise abroad, sound a trumpet, trumpet forth, thunder forth, give tongue, announce with beat of drum, announce with flourish of trumpets, proclaim from the housetops, proclaim at Charing Cross, advertise, placard, post, post up afficher, publish in the Gazette, send round the crier, raise a cry, raise a hue and cry, raise a report, set news afloat, be published, be public, become public, come out, go about, fly about, buzz about, blow about, get about, get abroad, get afloat, get wind, find vent, see the light, go forth, take air, acquire currency, pass current, go the rounds, go the round of the newspapers, go through the length and breadth of the land, virum volitare per ora, pass from mouth to mouth, spread, run like wildfire, spread like wildfire, publish, make public, make known, speak of, talk of, broach, utter, put forward, circulate, propagate, promulgate, spread, spread abroad, rumor, diffuse, disseminate, evulugate, put forth, give forth, send forth, emit, edit, get out, issue, bring before the public, lay before the public, drag before the public, give out, give to the world, put about, bandy about, hawk about, buzz about, whisper about, bruit about, blaze about, drag into the open day, voice, proclaim, herald, blazon, blaze abroad, noise abroad, sound a trumpet, trumpet forth, thunder forth, give tongue, announce with beat of drum, announce with flourish of trumpets, proclaim from the housetops, proclaim at Charing Cross, advertise, placard, post, post up afficher, publish in the Gazette, send round the crier, raise a cry, raise a hue and cry, raise a report, set news afloat, be published, be public, become public, come out, go about, fly about, buzz about, blow about, get about, get abroad, get afloat, get wind, find vent, see the light, go forth, take air, acquire currency, pass current, go the rounds, go the round of the newspapers, go through the length and breadth of the land, virum volitare per ora, pass from mouth to mouth, spread, run like wildfire, spread like wildfire.