Macmillan Dictionary

Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

spread out

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
phrasal verb
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theyspread out
he/she/itspreads out
present participlespreading out
past tensespread out
past participlespread out
Other entries for this word

Related dictionary definitions

 
  1. 1
    [intransitive] if people in a group spread out, they move away from one another so that they cover a large area

    Let's spread out more and search the whole field.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread out
  3. 3
    [transitive] same as spread1 (sense 3)

    Spread out the map so we can all see it.

  4. 4
    [intransitive/transitive] to cover a large area of land that you can see in front of you

    She gazed at the sprawling city spread out below her.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread out
  5. 5
    [transitive] [usually passive] to put people in many parts of a large area

    The peacekeeping forces are now spread out over most of the country.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of spread out
  6. 6
    [transitive] [usually passive] same as spread1 (sense 5b)

    The students felt the course would be better if it was spread out over two years instead of one.

  7. 7
    [transitive] same as spread1 (sense 8)

    He spread out his toes in the soft sand and wiggled them.

This is the British English definition of spread out. View American English definition of spread out.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 
See also main entry: spread

charticle

a news article that consists of a chart … and only has a small amount of text

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day

tweet

the short high sound that a small bird makes

Open Dictionary

never event

an event that should never occur in a healthcare setting …

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog