spraddling

Verb

spraddle (third-person singular simple present spraddles, present participle spraddling, simple past and past participle spraddled)

1. (transitive) To spread apart (the legs).
   • [T]hey [scorpions] rely on pressure-sensing organs near the ends of each of their eight walking legs to detect subtle shock waves that propagate outwards, even through sand, when another creature passes by on the desert floor. According to [Philip H.] Brownell, the scorpion orients itself toward...1988, David Quammen, “Faces Unlike Ours”, in The Flight of the Iguana: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN; Scribner trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y....
2. (transitive) To spread apart the legs of (someone or something).
   • She brought the quail back, and while it was still alive, she split it from breastbone to tail, and spraddled it, kicking, over Granpa's snake bite. She held the kicking quail on Granpa's hand for a long time, and when she took it off, the quail had turned green all over its inside.1976, Forrest Carter [pseudonym; Asa Earl Carter], “A Dangerous Adventure”, in The Education of Little Tree, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN; paperback edition, Albuquerque, N.M.: University...
3. (intransitive) To lie, move, or stand with legs spread.
   • Horace slunk into the kitchen. The stove, spraddling out on its four iron legs, was gently humming. Aunt Martha had evidently just lighted the lamp, for she went to it and began to twist the wick experimentally.1898 November, Stephen Crane, “His New Mittens”, in The Cornhill Magazine, volume V, number 29 (New Series), London: Smith, Elder & Co., 15 Waterloo Place, →OCLC, chapter II, page 634

See all 4 meanings of spraddle