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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

spread.

To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space.

6 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/spɹɛd/
  1. To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space.

    transitive
    He spread his newspaper on the table.
  2. To extend (individual rays, limbs etc.); to stretch out in varying or opposing directions. simple past and past participle of spread

    transitive
    I spread my arms wide and welcomed him home.
  3. To disperse, to scatter or distribute over a given area.

    transitive
    I spread the rice grains evenly over the floor.
  4. To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated.

    intransitive
  5. To disseminate; to cause to proliferate, to make (something) widely known or present.

    transitive
    The missionaries quickly spread their new message across the country.
  6. To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended.

    intransitive
    I dropped my glass; the water spread quickly over the tiled floor.
  7. To smear, to distribute in a thin layer.

    transitive
    She liked to spread butter on her toast while it was still hot.
  8. To cover (something) with a thin layer of some substance, as of butter.

    transitive
    He always spreads his toast with peanut butter and strawberry jam.
  9. To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions.

    to spread a table
  10. To open one’s legs, especially for sexual favours.

    intransitive · slang
Where this word comes from

From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), West Frisian spriede (“to spread”), North Frisian spriedjen (“to spread”), Dutch spreiden (“to spread”), Low German spreden (“to spread”), German spreiten (“to spread, spread out”), Danish sprede (“to spread”), Norwegian spre, spreie (“to spread, disseminate”), Swedish sprida (“to spread”), Latin spernō, spargō, Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō), Persian سپردن (sepordan, “to deposit”). Doublet of spurn.

noun/spɹɛd/
  1. The act of spreading.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Something that has been spread.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A layout, pattern or design of cards arranged for a reading.

    countable · uncountable
  4. An expanse of land.

    countable · uncountable
  5. A large tract of land used to raise livestock; a cattle ranch.

    countable · uncountable
  6. A piece of material used as a cover (such as a bedspread).

    countable · uncountable
  7. A large meal, especially one laid out on a table.

    countable · uncountable
  8. Any form of food designed to be spread, such as butters or jams.

    countable · uncountable · usually
  9. A set of multiple torpedoes launched on side-by-side, slowly-diverging paths toward one or more enemy ships.

    countable · uncountable
  10. Food improvised by inmates from various ingredients to relieve the tedium of prison food.

    slang · uncountable
  11. An item in a newspaper or magazine that occupies more than one column or page.

    countable · uncountable
  12. Two facing pages in a book, newspaper etc.

    countable · uncountable
  13. A numerical difference.

    countable · uncountable
  14. A measure of how far the data tend to deviate from the average.

    countable · uncountable
    The spread is usually measured using standard deviation and variance.
  15. The difference between the wholesale and retail prices.

    countable · uncountable
  16. The difference between the price of a futures month and the price of another month of the same commodity.

    countable · uncountable
  17. The purchase of a futures contract of one delivery month against the sale of another futures delivery month of the same commodity.

    countable · uncountable
  18. The purchase of one delivery month of one commodity against the sale of that same delivery month of a different commodity.

    countable · uncountable
  19. An arbitrage transaction of the same commodity in two markets, executed to take advantage of a profit from price discrepancies.

    countable · uncountable
  20. The difference between bidding and asking price.

    countable · uncountable
  21. The difference between the prices of two similar items.

    countable · uncountable
  22. An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.

    countable · uncountable
  23. The surface in proportion to the depth of a cut gemstone.

    countable · uncountable
  24. Excessive width of the trails of ink written on overly absorbent paper.

    countable · uncountable
  25. The difference between the teams' final scores at the end of a sport match.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan (“to spread, expand”), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijaną (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian spreede (“to spread”), West Frisian spriede (“to spread”), North Frisian spriedjen (“to spread”), Dutch spreiden (“to spread”), Low German spreden (“to spread”), German spreiten (“to spread, spread out”), Danish sprede (“to spread”), Norwegian spre, spreie (“to spread, disseminate”), Swedish sprida (“to spread”), Latin spernō, spargō, Ancient Greek σπείρω (speírō), Persian سپردن (sepordan, “to deposit”). Doublet of spurn.

verb/spɹiːd/UK/spɹid/General-American
  1. To speedread; to recite one's arguments at an extremely fast pace.

    intransitive · transitive
Where this word comes from

Blend of speed + read.

noun/spɹiːd/UK/spɹid/General-American
  1. An act or instance of spreading (speedreading).

Where this word comes from

Blend of speed + read.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.