Definitions

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

  • adjective Positioned with the arms and legs stretched out.
  • adjective Informal Full of patriotic or jingoistic rhetoric.
  • intransitive verb To place in a spread-eagle position, especially as a means of punishment.
  • intransitive verb To assume a spread-eagle position.
  • intransitive verb To make a grandiloquent, patriotic speech.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Having the form or characteristics of a spread eagle, or of the kind of display so called; hence, ostentatious; bombastic; boastful: as, a spread-eagle oration. See spread eagle, under eagle.
  • To stretch out in the attitude of a spread eagle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Colloq. & Humorous Characterized by a pretentious, boastful, exaggerated style; defiantly or extravagantly bombastic, especially regarding of the greatness of the U. S..
  • intransitive verb To assume a spread-eagled position; -- it may be done reclining, for relaxation, or momentarily, as an exhibitionary maneuver in a sport.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Lying with arms and legs outstretched and separated.
  • adjective colloquial, humorous Characterized by a pretentious, boastful, exaggerated style; bombastic.
  • adverb With arms and legs extended and spread.
  • verb transitive To put into a spread-eagle position, with arms and legs extended and spread.
  • verb intransitive To put one's body in a spread eagle.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a skating figure executed with the skates heel to heel in a straight line
  • noun an emblem (an eagle with wings and legs spread) on the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States
  • verb defeat disastrously
  • verb execute a spread eagle on skates, with arms and legs stretched out
  • verb defeat disastrously
  • verb stretch out completely
  • adjective with arms and legs stretched out and apart
  • verb stretch over
  • verb stand with arms and legs spread out

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From splayed-eagle (in heraldry), splayed + eagle

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