v. i. 1. To extend in length and breadth in all directions, or in breadth only; to be extended or stretched; to expand. [ 1913 Webster ]

Plants, if they spread much, are seldom tall. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

Governor Winthrop, and his associates at Charlestown, had for a church a large, spreading tree. B. Trumbull. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be extended by drawing or beating; as, some metals spread with difficulty. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be made known more extensively, as news. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To be propagated from one to another; as, the disease spread into all parts of the city. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Spread; p. pr. & vb. n. Spreading. ] [ OE. spreden, AS. spraedan; akin to D. spreiden, spreijen, LG. spreden, spreen, spreien, G. spreiten, Dan. sprede, Sw. sprida. Cf. Spray water flying in drops. ] 1. To extend in length and breadth, or in breadth only; to stretch or expand to a broad or broader surface or extent; to open; to unfurl; as, to spread a carpet; to spread a tent or a sail. [ 1913 Webster ]

He bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent. Gen. xxxiii. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here the Rhone
Hath spread himself a couch. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To extend so as to cover something; to extend to a great or greater extent in every direction; to cause to fill or cover a wide or wider space. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rose, as in a dance, the stately trees, and spread
Their branches hung with copious fruit. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To divulge; to publish, as news or fame; to cause to be more extensively known; to disseminate; to make known fully; as, to spread a report; -- often accompanied by abroad. [ 1913 Webster ]

They, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country. Matt. ix. 31. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To propagate; to cause to affect great numbers; as, to spread a disease. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To diffuse, as emanations or effluvia; to emit; as, odoriferous plants spread their fragrance. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. To strew; to scatter over a surface; as, to spread manure; to spread lime on the ground. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions; as, to spread a table. [ 1913 Webster ]

Boiled the flesh, and spread the board. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

To spread cloth, to unfurl sail. [ Obs. ] Evelyn. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To diffuse; propagate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense. [ 1913 Webster ]

imp. & p. p. of Spread, v. [ 1913 Webster ]

Spread eagle. (a) An eagle with outspread wings, the national emblem of the United States. (b) The figure of an eagle, with its wings elevated and its legs extended; often met as a device upon military ornaments, and the like. (c) (Her.) An eagle displayed; an eagle with the wings and legs extended on each side of the body, as in the double-headed eagle of Austria and Russia. See Displayed, 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Extent; compass. [ 1913 Webster ]

I have got a fine spread of improvable land. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Expansion of parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

No flower hath spread like that of the woodbine. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A cloth used as a cover for a table or a bed. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A table, as spread or furnished with a meal; hence, an entertainment of food; a feast. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A privilege which one person buys of another, of demanding certain shares of stock at a certain price, or of delivering the same shares of stock at another price, within a time agreed upon. [ Brokers' Cant ] [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Geom.) An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Finance) An arbitrage transaction operated by buying and selling simultaneously in two separate markets, as Chicago and New York, when there is an abnormal difference in price between the two markets. It is called a
back spreadwhen the difference in price is less than the normal one. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

8. (Gems) Surface in proportion to the depth of a cut stone. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Characterized by a pretentious, boastful, exaggerated style; defiantly or extravagantly bombastic, especially regarding of the greatness of the U. S.; as, a spread-eagle orator; a spread-eagle speech. [ Colloq. & Humorous ] [ MW10 ] [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

v. i. To assume a spread-eagled position; -- it may be done reclining, for relaxation, or momentarily, as an exhibitionary maneuver in a sport. [ PJC ]

a. Being in a position with the arms and legs extended fully. [ PJC ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, spreads, expands, or propagates. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A machine for combining and drawing fibers of flax to form a sliver preparatory to spinning. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. Increasingly. [ 1913 Webster ]

The best times were spreadingly infected. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]