Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To open to a fuller extent or width; stretch.
  • intransitive verb To make wider the gap between; move farther apart.
  • intransitive verb To distribute over a surface in a layer.
  • intransitive verb To cover with a layer.
  • intransitive verb To distribute widely.
  • intransitive verb To make a wide or extensive arrangement of.
  • intransitive verb To exhibit or display the full extent of.
  • intransitive verb To cause to become widely seen or known; scatter or disseminate.
  • intransitive verb To prepare (a table) for eating; set.
  • intransitive verb To arrange (food or a meal) on a table.
  • intransitive verb To flatten (a rivet end, for example) by pounding.
  • intransitive verb To be extended or enlarged.
  • intransitive verb To move over an area, be distributed, or be widely dispersed.
  • intransitive verb To become known or prevalent over a wide area.
  • intransitive verb To be exhibited, displayed, or visible in broad or full extent.
  • intransitive verb To become or admit of being distributed in a layer.
  • intransitive verb To become separated; be forced farther apart.
  • noun The act or process of spreading.
  • noun Dissemination, as of news; diffusion.
  • noun An open area of land; an expanse.
  • noun A ranch, farm, or estate.
  • noun The extent or limit to which something is or can be spread.
  • noun A cloth covering for a bed, table, or other piece of furniture.
  • noun Informal An abundant meal laid out on a table.
  • noun A food to be spread on bread or crackers.
  • noun Two facing pages of a magazine, newspaper, or book, considered as a unit.
  • noun An article or advertisement running across two or more columns of a newspaper or magazine.
  • noun A difference, as between two figures or totals.
  • noun A position taken in two or more options or futures contracts in order to profit from a change in their relative prices.
  • noun The difference between the price asked and bid for a particular security.
  • noun The difference in yields between two fixed-income securities, as between short-term and long-term bonds.
  • noun A number of points offered to equalize the chances of winning in a wager on a competition, usually between sports teams.
  • noun Wingspread.
  • idiom (spread (oneself) thin) To work on too many projects: overextend oneself.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In mathematics: A continuous or discontinuous connected aggregate, assemblage, or manifold of elements: thus, for instance, a two-spread may be considered as a surface with points or lines as elements.
  • noun In bacteriology, same as smear, 6.
  • noun A misère or grando, in any game of cards in which the single player's cards are placed face up on the table. See skat and boston.
  • noun The act of spreading or extending; propagation; diffusion: as, the spread of knowledge.
  • noun The state, condition, quality, or capability of being outspread; expansion: as, the tail of the peacock has an imposing spread.
  • noun The amount of extension or expansion, especially in surface; expanse; breadth; compass.
  • noun Hence—4. See the quotation.
  • noun A stretch; an expanse.
  • noun Capacity for spreading or stretching.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English spreden, from Old English -sprǣdan (as in tōsprǣdan, to spread out); see sper- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English spreden, from Old English sprǣdan ("to spread, expand"), from Proto-Germanic *spraidijanan (“to spread”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to strew, sow, sprinkle”). Cognate with 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"), Norwegian spreida, spreie ("to spread, disseminate"), Swedish sprida ("to spread").

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Examples

  • As the Grateful Dead toured the globe through the '70s and '80s, playing hundreds of shows a year - the term spread though the Dead underground.

    The Full Feed from HuffingtonPost.com The Huffington Post News Editors 2011

  • "The word spread pretty quickly around here: They had service and nice planes," said Gary Adams , senior vice president of Anchor/Russell Capital Advisors LLC, a Boston money-management firm.

    How JetBlue Cracked Boston Susan Carey 2012

  • When the blog Chicks in the Huddle broke the news, the word spread like wildfire.

    Shaneika Dabney: A Solemn Tribute to Jeremy Shockey Shaneika Dabney 2011

  • When the blog Chicks in the Huddle broke the news, the word spread like wildfire.

    Shaneika Dabney: A Solemn Tribute to Jeremy Shockey Shaneika Dabney 2011

  • The word spread quickly around town about Till's alleged actions.

    Dexter Rogers: Death in Mississippi: Lynching or Suicide? Dexter Rogers 2011

  • As the word spread through the upper levels of government that day, it would be remembered, one could almost hear the sighs of relief.

    Truman Fires MacArthur David McCullough 2010

  • When the word spread that Bose Hubbard was going to crush some poor devil, the dance hall emptied as people rushed to watch the spectacle.

    Come Again No More Jack Todd 2010

  • The word spread beyond the social networking on Joga.com through many non-Nike websites, as soccer amateurs sought to co-opt others.

    The Power of Co-Creation Venkat Ramaswamy 2010

  • The word spread beyond the social networking on Joga.com through many non-Nike websites, as soccer amateurs sought to co-opt others.

    The Power of Co-Creation Venkat Ramaswamy 2010

  • When the word spread that Bose Hubbard was going to crush some poor devil, the dance hall emptied as people rushed to watch the spectacle.

    Come Again No More Jack Todd 2010

  • In fuel refining circles there’s a phrase that gets thrown around quite a bit: crack spread. “The crack spread is the difference between the petroleum product price, such as diesel or gasoline, and crude oil prices,” said Jeff Barron, an economist at the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

    U.S. oil refiners' margins smash records, but few plan to build more plants Andy Uhler 2022

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