(~s, ~ing, ~)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you ~ something somewhere, you open it out or arrange it over a place or surface, so that all of it can be seen or used easily.
She ~ a towel on the sand and lay on it...
VERB: V n prep
•
Spread out means the same as ~ .
He extracted several glossy prints and ~ them out on a low coffee table...
In his room, Tom was ~ing out a map of Scandinavia on the bed.
PHRASAL VERB: V n P, V P n (not pron)
2.
If you ~ your arms, hands, fingers, or legs, you stretch them out until they are far apart.
Sitting on the floor, ~ your legs as far as they will go without overstretching...
He stepped back and ~ his hands wide. ‘You are most welcome to our home.’
VERB: V n adv, V n adj
•
Spread out means the same as ~ .
David made a gesture, ~ing out his hands as if he were showing that he had no explanation to make...
You need a bed that’s large enough to let you ~ yourself out.
PHRASAL VERB: V P n (not pron), V n P
3.
If you ~ a substance on a surface or ~ the surface with the substance, you put a thin layer of the substance over the surface.
Spread the mixture in the cake tin and bake for 30 minutes...
Spread the bread with the cheese.
VERB: V n prep, V n with n
4.
Spread is a soft food which is put on bread.
...a wholemeal salad roll with low fat ~.
N-MASS: usu supp N
5.
If something ~s or is ~ by people, it gradually reaches or affects a larger and larger area or more and more people.
The industrial revolution which started a couple of hundred years ago in Europe is now ~ing across the world.
...the sense of fear ~ing in residential neighborhoods...
He was fed-up with the lies being ~ about him.
VERB: V prep/adv, V, V n
•
Spread is also a noun.
The greatest hope for reform is the gradual ~ of information...
N-SING: usu the N of n
6.
If something such as a liquid, gas, or smoke ~s or is ~, it moves outwards in all directions so that it covers a larger area.
Fire ~ rapidly after a chemical truck exploded...
A dark red stain was ~ing across his shirt...
In Northern California, a wildfire has ~ a haze of smoke over 200 miles.
VERB: V, V prep, V n prep
•
Spread is also a noun.
The situation was complicated by the ~ of a serious forest fire.
N-SING
7.
If you ~ something over a period of time, it takes place regularly or continuously over that period, rather than happening at one time.
There seems to be little difference whether you eat all your calorie allowance in one go, or ~ it over the day...
VERB: V n over n
8.
If you ~ something such as wealth or work, you distribute it evenly or equally.
...policies that ~ the state’s wealth more evenly...
VERB: V n
•
Spread is also a noun.
There are easier ways to encourage the even ~ of wealth.
N-SING: usu N of n
9.
A ~ of ideas, interests, or other things is a wide variety of them.
A topic-based approach can be hard to assess in primary schools with a typical ~ of ability...
= range
N-SING: usu N of n
10.
A ~ is a large meal, especially one that has been prepared for a special occasion.
N-COUNT
11.
A ~ is two pages of a book, magazine, or newspaper that are opposite each other when you open it at a particular place.
There was a double-page ~ of a dinner for 46 people.
N-COUNT
12.
Spread is used to refer to the difference between the price that a seller wants someone to pay for a particular stock or share and the price that the buyer is willing to pay. (BUSINESS)
Market makers earn their livings from the ~ between buying and selling prices.
N-SING
13.
to ~ your wings: see wing