SPREAD-EAGLE

I. verb (-eagled; spread-eagling) Date: 1826 intransitive verb to execute a spread eagle (as in skating), to stand or move with arms and legs stretched out ; sprawl , transitive verb to stretch out into the position of a spread eagle, to spread over, II. adjective Etymology: from the spread eagle on the Great Seal of the United States Date: 1858 marked by bombast and boastful exaggeration especially of the greatness of the United States