sprawled; sprawling; sprawls
1
: to lie or sit with arms and legs spread out
2
: to spread or develop irregularly or without restraint
bushes sprawling along the road
sprawling suburbs
a sprawling narrative
3
a
: to creep or clamber awkwardly
b
archaic
: to lie thrashing or tossing about
: to cause to spread out carelessly or awkwardly
sprawled out her books on the table
1
: an irregularly spread or scattered group or mass
2
3
: the act, posture, or condition of sprawling
Examples of sprawl in a Sentence
Verb
The kids sprawled on the floor to watch TV.
She tripped and went sprawling into the table.
The city sprawls along the coastline.
The bushes were sprawling along the road.
Recent Examples on the Web
Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2025
For more than a century, one family has watched over the sprawling Reynolds Ranch in Central California.
—David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Alex Lanstein, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
The house measures a commodious 11,000 square feet, while the luxury mini-ranch sprawls out over an acre.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sprawl
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Verb
In order to do this, Abu Dhabi, Dubai and the five other states that comprise the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have built sprawling facilities and hired hundreds of thousands of people to work in them.
—Caroline Reid, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2025
For more than a century, one family has watched over the sprawling Reynolds Ranch in Central California.
—David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 16 Aug. 2025
Noun
Without a centralized search or correlation engine, this tool sprawl leaves analysts manually searching logs across multiple platforms.
—Alex Lanstein, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2025
The house measures a commodious 11,000 square feet, while the luxury mini-ranch sprawls out over an acre.
—Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 4 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for sprawl
Cite this Entry
“Sprawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sprawl. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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