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Spread

//spɹɛd// noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective

1
distributed or spread over a considerable extent wordnet
2
fully extended in width wordnet
3
prepared or arranged for a meal; especially having food set out wordnet

Noun

1
The act of spreading. countable, uncountable
"No flower hath that kind of spread that the woodbine hath."
2
An act or instance of spreading (speedreading).
"If debate is a game, then the execution of a "spread" is like a well-timed blitz in football. Convincing a judge that your opponents' arguments would cause human extinction is equivalent to a successful Hail Mary pass."
3
act of extending over a wider scope or expanse of space or time wordnet
4
Something that has been spread. countable, uncountable
5
decorative cover for a bed wordnet

Show 31 more definitions

6
A layout, pattern or design of cards arranged for a reading. countable, uncountable
7
farm consisting of a large tract of land along with facilities needed to raise livestock (especially cattle) wordnet
8
An expanse of land. countable, uncountable
"November 29, 1712, Andrew Freeport, a letter to The Spectator I have got a fine spread of improvable lands."
9
a conspicuous disparity or difference as between two figures wordnet
10
A large tract of land used to raise livestock; a cattle ranch. countable, uncountable
"- Can't wait till I get my own spread and won't have to put up with Joe Aguirre's crap no more."
11
a haphazard distribution in all directions wordnet
12
A piece of material used as a cover (such as a bedspread). countable, uncountable
"Linen shawls and spreads show up in secondhand clothing stores like those in the row on St. Marks Place in New York City."
13
the expansion of a person's girth (especially at middle age) wordnet
14
A large meal, especially one laid out on a table. countable, uncountable
15
two facing pages of a book or other publication wordnet
16
Any form of food designed to be spread, such as butters or jams. countable, uncountable, usually
"Ferd liked to experiment with sandwich spreads ― the one he liked most was cream-cheese, olives, anchovy and avocado, mashed up with a little mayonnaise ― but Oscar always had the same pink luncheon-meat."
17
process or result of distributing or extending over a wide expanse of space wordnet
18
A set of multiple torpedoes launched on side-by-side, slowly-diverging paths toward one or more enemy ships. countable, uncountable
"Johnston, meanwhile, has managed to get within five miles of its target, and fires a full spread of ten torpedoes. Minutes later, at least two, possibly three, tear the bow off the hapless cruiser Kumano. First blood, unbelievably, therefore, goes to the Americans."
19
a meal that is well prepared and greatly enjoyed wordnet
20
Food improvised by inmates from various ingredients to relieve the tedium of prison food. slang, uncountable
21
a tasty mixture to be spread on bread or crackers or used in preparing other dishes wordnet
22
An item in a newspaper or magazine that occupies more than one column or page. countable, uncountable
23
Two facing pages in a book, newspaper etc. countable, uncountable
24
A numerical difference. countable, uncountable
25
A measure of how far the data tend to deviate from the average. countable, uncountable
"The spread is usually measured using standard deviation and variance."
26
The difference between the wholesale and retail prices. countable, uncountable
27
The difference between the price of a futures month and the price of another month of the same commodity. countable, uncountable
28
The purchase of a futures contract of one delivery month against the sale of another futures delivery month of the same commodity. countable, uncountable
29
The purchase of one delivery month of one commodity against the sale of that same delivery month of a different commodity. countable, uncountable
30
An arbitrage transaction of the same commodity in two markets, executed to take advantage of a profit from price discrepancies. countable, uncountable
31
The difference between bidding and asking price. countable, uncountable
32
The difference between the prices of two similar items. countable, uncountable
33
An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points. countable, uncountable
34
The surface in proportion to the depth of a cut gemstone. countable, uncountable
35
Excessive width of the trails of ink written on overly absorbent paper. countable, uncountable
36
The difference between the teams' final scores at the end of a sport match. countable, uncountable
"College basketball games don't lack for gambling propositions—the moneyline, a straightforward wager on which team will win; the over-under gamble on the total number of points scored by both teams—but the most popular wager is the spread. The spread represents the predicted difference between the two teams in the final score of the game."

Verb

1
To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space. transitive
"He spread his newspaper on the table."
2
To speedread; to recite one's arguments at an extremely fast pace. intransitive, transitive
"You're assuming that if someone spreads they aren't a good orator. That's flawed logic."
3
cause to become widely known wordnet
4
To extend (individual rays, limbs etc.); to stretch out in varying or opposing directions. simple past and past participle of spread transitive
"I spread my arms wide and welcomed him home."
5
become widely known and passed on wordnet

Show 16 more definitions

6
To disperse, to scatter or distribute over a given area. transitive
"I spread the rice grains evenly over the floor."
7
distribute or disperse widely wordnet
8
To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated. intransitive
"Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine.[…]One thing that is true, though, is that murder rates have fallen over the centuries, as policing has spread and the routine carrying of weapons has diminished. Modern society may not have done anything about war. But peace is a lot more peaceful."
9
become distributed or widespread wordnet
10
To disseminate; to cause to proliferate, to make (something) widely known or present. transitive
"The missionaries quickly spread their new message across the country."
11
spread out or open from a closed or folded state wordnet
12
To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended. intransitive
"I dropped my glass; the water spread quickly over the tiled floor."
13
distribute over a surface in a layer wordnet
14
To smear, to distribute in a thin layer. transitive
"She liked to spread butter on her toast while it was still hot."
15
cover by spreading something over wordnet
16
To cover (something) with a thin layer of some substance, as of butter. transitive
"He always spreads his toast with peanut butter and strawberry jam."
17
move outward wordnet
18
To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions.
"to spread a table"
19
strew or distribute over an area wordnet
20
To open one’s legs, especially for sexual favours. intransitive, slang
"This often sounds like the rap of a demented DJ: the way she moves has got to be good news, can't get loose till I feel the juice— suck and spread, bitch, yeah bounce for me baby."
21
spread across or over wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), 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”), Danish sprede (“to spread”), Norwegian spre, spreie (“to spread, disseminate”), Swedish sprida (“to spread”), Latin spernō, spargō, Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō), Persian سپردن (sepordan, “to deposit”), English spurn.

Etymology 2

Etymology 3

Blend of speed + read.

Etymology 4

Blend of speed + read.

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