Category:Spread

Spread, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spread; p. pr. & vb. n. Spreading.] Etym: [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.]

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 sprad cloth, to unfurl sail. [obs.] Evelyn.

Syn. -- to diffuse; propogate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; Circulate; disseminate; dispense.

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. Govrnor 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.

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.

4. A table, as spread or furnished with a meal; hence, an Entertainment of food; a feast. [colloq.]

5. 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. [broker's cant]

6. (geom.)

Defn: an unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.

Spread Spread,

Defn: 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.