verb, noun
verb (spread, spread)
open / arrange
1 [VN] ~ sth (out) (on / over sth) to open sth that has been folded so that it covers a larger area than before:
to spread a cloth on a table * Sue spread the map out on the floor. * The bird spread its wings.
2 [VN] ~ sth (out) (on / over sth) to arrange objects so that they cover a large area and can be seen easily:
Papers had been spread out on the desk.
arms / legs
3 [VN] ~ sth (out) to move your arms, legs, fingers, etc. far apart from each other:
She spread her arms and the child ran towards her.
among people
4 to affect or make sth affect, be known by, or used by more and more people: [V, usually +adv./prep.] The disease spreads easily. * Within weeks, his confidence had spread throughout the team. * Use of computers spread rapidly during that period. * [VN] to spread rumours / lies about sb * The disease is spread by mosquitoes.
cover large area
5 [usually +adv./prep.] to cover, or to make sth cover, a larger and larger area:
[V] The fire rapidly spread to adjoining buildings. * Water began to spread across the floor. * A smile spread slowly across her face. * [VN] Using too much water could spread the stain.
6 [VN] to cause sb/sth to be in a number of different places:
Seeds and pollen are spread by the wind. * We have 10000 members spread all over the country.
7 [V+adv./prep.] ~ (out) to cover a large area:
The valley spread out beneath us.
soft layer
8 ~ (A on / over B)
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About this entry
This is a English–English dictionary entry.
Sourced from Main Dictionary in Lughet's collection.
This word also appears under other sources in Lughet's collection — see the list below.
This entry for spread is sourced from Main Dictionary, one of the dictionaries and corpora merged into Lughet.
Does spread appear elsewhere on Lughet?
Yes — spread appears under other sources or language pairs in Lughet's collection. See the list below.
What is Lughet?
Lughet is a free trilingual dictionary covering nearly five million entries across Uyghur, Chinese, and English, drawn from more than ten source dictionaries and corpora.
