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

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

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

Synonyms:

Antonyms:

idiom

spread (oneself) thin

American Heritage

spread oneself thin

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Spread

Singular:

spread

Plural:

spreads

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