splay
/spleɪ/
splay verb: to spread, spread apart, or spread out (something); to expand.
Verb (1)
splay (third-person singular simple present splays, present participle splaying, simple past and past participle splayed)
- To spread, spread apart, or spread out (something); to expand.
- Thiſſame ſo great a chaunge of the world, begoonne within a fewe yeares after Chriſt was putte to death, to be made generall and common through al the whold worlde, and withoute any maintenaunce or ſupportacion of mã [man], it encreaced from tyme to tyme ſtill more and more, vntyll the piece of...1549 February 10 (Gregorian calendar; indicated as 1548), Erasmus, “The Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the Ghospell of S. Luke. The Preface of Erasmus vnto His Paraphrase vpon the Ghospell of Luke. Unto...
- The Lydian maiden in her web did portray to her full / […] / Aſteriee ſtruggling with an Erne which did away hir beare, / And ouer Leda ſhe had made a Swan his wings to ſplay.1567, Ovid, “The Sixt Booke”, in Arthur Golding, transl., The XV. Bookes of P. Ouidius Naso, Entytuled Metamorphosis, […], London: […] Willyam Seres […], →OCLC, folio 69, recto
- To construct a bevel or slope on (something, such as the frame or jamb of a door or window); to bevel, to slant, to slope.
- When entrance and egress [through a door] are constant, it may be supposed that the valves will be absent or unfastened,—that people will be passing more quickly than when the entrance and egress are unfrequent, and that the square angles of the wall will be inconvenient to such quick passers...1851, John Ruskin, “Form of Aperture”, in The Stones of Venice, volume I (The Foundations), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, § IV, page 170
- To rearrange (a splay tree) so that a desired element is placed at the root.
- To dislocate (a body part such as a shoulder bone).
- To unfurl or unroll (a banner or flag).
- Ye grounde yow vpon Godfrey, that grysly gargons face, / Your stondarde, Syr Olifranke, agenst me for to splay: […]a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Poems against Garnesche”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […], volume I, London: Thomas Rodd, […], published 1843, →OCLC, page...
- We rendred then with ſaftie for our liues, / Our Enſignes ſplayed, and manyging our armes, / With furder fayth, that from all kinde of giues, / Our ſouldiours ſhould remayne withouten harmes: […]1576, George Gascoigne, “The Fruites of Warre, Written vppon This Theame, Dulce Bellum Inexpertis, […]”, in The Posies of George Gascoigne Esquire. […], London: […] H[enry] Bynneman for Richard...
- Synonyms:
- display
- To have, or lie in, an oblique or slanted position.
- To spread out awkwardly; to sprawl.
- "What a finger!" says Mrs. Ponto, and indeed it was a finger, as knotted as a turkey's drumstick, and splaying all over the piano. When she had banged out the tune slowly, she began a different manner of "Gettin' up Stairs," and did so with a fury and swiftness quite incredible.1846 February 28 – 1847 February 27, W[illiam] M[akepeace] Thackeray, “On Some Country Snobs”, in The Book of Snobs, London: Punch Office, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 95
Adjective
splay (comparative more splay, superlative most splay)
- Oblique, slanted.
- Turned outward; spread out.
- to sit splay-legged
- Crooked, distorted, out of place.
- splay shoulders
- In the German mind, as in the German language, there does seem to be something splay, something blunt-edged, unhandy, and infelicitous,—some want of quick, fine, sure perception, which tends to balance the great superiority of the Germans in knowledge, and in the disposition to deal impartially...1873, Matthew Arnold, “Preface”, in Literature & Dogma: An Essay towards a Better Apprehension of the Bible, London: Smith, Elder, & Co. […], →OCLC, page xxvi
- Synonyms:
- awry
Adverb
splay (comparative more splay, superlative most splay)
Noun
splay (plural splays)
- An outward spread of an object such as a bowl or cup.
- A bevel, slant, or slope, especially of the frame or jamb of a door or window, by which an opening is made larger at one face of the wall than at the other, or larger at each of the faces than it is between them.
- The daylight was so lowered by the impervious roof of cloud overhead that it scarcely reached further into Lord Mountclere's entrance-hall than to the splays of the windows, even but an hour or two after midday; […]1876, Thomas Hardy, “Lychworth Court”, in The Hand of Ethelberta: A Comedy in Chapters […], volume II, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 141
- The amount of such a bevel, slant, or slope.
- A widening of a minor road where it forms a junction with a major road to ensure that the view of traffic on the major road by drivers on the minor road is not obstructed.
- visibility splay
- The view to the left or right which a driver on a minor road has of traffic on the major road; also, a plan showing this.
Verb (2)
splay (third-person singular simple present splays, present participle splaying, simple past and past participle splayed)
- Synonym of spay (“to destroy or remove the ovaries and/or uterus (of a female animal) to prevent pregnancy”).
- Sovves alſo are ſplaied as vvell as camels, but tvvo daies before, they be kept from meat; then hang they them by the forelegs for to make inciſion into their matrice [womb], and to take forth their ſtones: and by this means they vvill ſooner grovv to be fat.1601, C[aius] Plinius Secundus [i.e., Pliny the Elder], “[Book VIII.] Of Swine and Their Natures.”, in Philemon Holland, transl., The Historie of the World. Commonly Called, The Naturall Historie of...
- Eſc[alus]. Hovv vvould you liue Pompey? by being a bavvd? […] the Lavv vvould not allovv it Pompey; nor it ſhall not be allovved in Vienna. / Clo[wne, i.e., Pompey Bum, a pimp]. Do's your VVorſhip meane to geld and ſplay all the youth of the City?c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Synonyms:
- spay
splay meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
splay in Tamil
- சரிவு, விரிவு, சாளரச் சுவாச் சரிவு
splay in Urdu
- پھیلانا, وُسعَت دینا, کُشادہ کرنا, بڑھانا, ہڈی کا جوڑ کُھلنا, ایک جانب جُھکانا
splay in Bengali
- ছড়ানো, প্রসারিত করা
Examples of splay in a sentence
- The tracks are laid with the inner rails only 10 in. apart, except at the half way point (North Walk) where they are splayed out to allow the cars to pass.1951 August, P. W. Gentry, “Cliff Railways”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 515:
- At Hounslow, the existing running lines would need splaying to create two turnback sidings inbetween ^([sic]) them, to help accommodate the planned service of 4tph.2026 March 18, David Stubbings, “New London Overground route electrification plan”, in RAIL, number 1057, page 17:
- We have a fellow on board, an Irish-American, for all the world like a beggar in a print by [Georges] Callot; one-eyed, with great, splay crow's-feet round the sockets; […]1879–1880, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Steerage Types”, in The Amateur Emigrant: From the Clyde to Sandy Hook, Chicago, Ill.: Stone and...
- [T]o ſay nothing of the knovvn practice of ſplaying Svvine and Bitches; […]1663, Robert Boyle, “Essay V. Proposing Some Particulars wherein Natural Philosophy may be Useful to the Therapeutical Part of Physick.”...
Synonyms of splay
Forms of splay
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | splays |
| present participle | splaying |
| past participle | splayed |
| past | splayed |
| Adjective | |
| comparative | more splay |
| superlative | most splay |
| Adverb | |
| comparative | more splay |
| superlative | most splay |
| Noun | |
| plural | splays |
Origin of splay
PIE word *dwís The verb is derived from Middle English splaien, splayen (“to display; to spread out, unfurl (a flag, etc.); (cooking) to cut open (a fish) lengthwise and lay it open; (figurative) to appear; to spread”), an aphetic form of Middle English displaien, displayen (“to display”): see display. The adjective and adverb are derived from the verb, or from splayfoot (noun) or splayfooted (adjective). The noun is derived from the verb.
From Middle English splaien, splayen, a variant of spaien, spayen (“to remove the ovaries of (a female animal), spay; to stab or kill (an animal)”): see spay.
Words formed from splay
Phrases with splay
Words that rhyme with splay
Questions about splay
- What does splay mean?
- Splay means to spread, spread apart, or spread out (something); to expand.
- What is splay in Tamil?
- Splay in Tamil is சரிவு, விரிவு, சாளரச் சுவாச் சரிவு. See Splay meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use splay in a sentence?
- The tracks are laid with the inner rails only 10 in. apart, except at the half way point (North Walk) where they are splayed out to allow the cars to pass.
- What part of speech is splay?
- Splay can be a verb, an adjective, an adverb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce splay?
- Splay is pronounced /spleɪ/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of splay?
- The past tense of splay is splayed.
Words near splay in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: splay (page history and authors); splay (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); splay (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); splay (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-splay.wav.
Cite this entry: “splay.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/splay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.