sprad

Verb

spread (third-person singular simple present spreads, present participle spreading, simple past and past participle spread)

1. (transitive) To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space.
   • He spread his newspaper on the table.
2. (transitive) To extend (individual rays, limbs etc.); to stretch out in varying or opposing directions. simple past and past participle of spread
   • I spread my arms wide and welcomed him home.
3. (transitive) To disperse, to scatter or distribute over a given area.
   • I spread the rice grains evenly over the floor.

   Synonyms:

   sow, suffuse, pervade

4. (intransitive) To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated.
   • 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...2013 July 20, “Old soldiers?”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845
5. (transitive) To disseminate; to cause to proliferate, to make (something) widely known or present.
   • The missionaries quickly spread their new message across the country.

   Synonyms:

   sweep

6. (intransitive) To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended.
   • I dropped my glass; the water spread quickly over the tiled floor.

   Synonyms:

   sweep

See all 37 meanings of spread