spans 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of span
as in measures
to find out the size, extent, or amount of tried to span the distance between the two trees by eye alone

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

spans

2 of 2

noun

plural of span
1
as in pairs

Related Words
2
as in spaces

Related Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of spans
Verb
The ranch spans about 245 acres and sits at the junction of Highway 1 and Highway 84, with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean. — Sooji Nam, CBS News, 1 Aug. 2026 The assessed valuation for the site, which spans a full city block in Berkeley, was $27 million as of January 2026. — George Avalos, Mercury News, 31 July 2026 Considering Banks’ filmography spans 50 years and includes Breaking Bad’s assortment of highly celebrated villains, Dalton knew the weight of such a statement. — Brian Davids, HollywoodReporter, 31 July 2026 The list spans the full textile value chain, from raw fiber to finished product. — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 31 July 2026 Baha Mar From Red Rooster in Harlem and Marcus Bar & Grille in Atlanta to MARCUS in Montreal, Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s culinary portfolio spans more than 15 restaurants around the world. — Martie Bowser, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026 The programming spans nearly every artistic discipline—jazz, hip-hop, theater, dance, classical music—and long-standing partnerships with embassies and community organizations helped shape the calendar. — Janay Kingsberry, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026 The Ashaninka territory spans the Brazil-Peru border in the western Amazon. — ABC News, 24 July 2026 More than 2,000 homes are planned for the development, which spans roughly 1,000 acres in Fort Worth’s extraterritorial jurisdiction. — Emily Holshouser july 23, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spans
  1. measures
  2. pairs
  3. years
  4. gauges
  5. couples
  6. stretches
  7. weighs
  8. teams
Verb
  • The market is at an all-time high, while Michigan’s consumer sentiment index (which measures consumer future looking attitudes about the economy) is at an all-time low.
    — Derek Horstmeyer, Fortune, 31 July 2026
  • Absorption is an industry metric that measures whether a real estate sector is growing or shrinking.
    — Zachary Hansen, AJC.com, 31 July 2026
Definition of measures
Noun
  • While Maduro and Flores have awaited trial in a federal detention facility in Brooklyn, their home country has been grappling with a humanitarian disaster following a pair of powerful back-to-back earthquakes in June, killing at least 5,278 people.
    — Peter Charalambous, ABC News, 22 July 2026
  • The pair eventually decided to promote events of their own in Evesham, a market town in England’s West Midlands, and in an effort to save money, Goodall doubled up as the master of ceremonies.
    — Chris McKenna, New York Times, 22 July 2026
Definition of pairs
Noun
  • Ten years ago, on Mother’s Day, Fiona Galvin reported her 17-year-old daughter missing.
    — Gloria Casas, Chicago Tribune, 9 May 2026
  • Over the past 10 years, Quinn has seen an increase in challenging behavior and more emotions among her 6- and 7-year-olds, with a particular ramp-up since the pandemic.
    — Stacker, Hartford Courant, 9 May 2026
Definition of years
Verb
  • San Diego earned a 78 out of 100 Redfin Compete Score, which gauges how competitive a market is.
    — Wyles Daniel, USA Today, 16 July 2026
  • Activity impact gauges how physical exertion is affecting your recovery.
    — Samantha Agate, Kansas City Star, 7 July 2026
Definition of gauges
Noun
  • Between work stress, endless scrolling and packed schedules, couples often go weeks without truly focusing on each other.
    — Ashley Lynch, Charlotte Observer, 30 July 2026
  • Moving in together will not eliminate every disagreement, but having these conversations first can help couples build a foundation strong enough to hold up the rest.
    — Ashley Lynch, Sacbee.com, 30 July 2026
Definition of couples
Noun
  • This is the franchise that dealt the Wave their worst loss of all, the 1-0 semifinals defeat in San Diego that denied Casey Stoney‘s club, which looked weirdly tentative for long stretches, a 2023 NWSL finals berth at Snapdragon Stadium.
    — Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 27 July 2026
  • Early estimates, drawn from a few fast-changing stretches of DNA, had put the lineage at only a few centuries old.
    — John Drake, Forbes.com, 27 July 2026
Definition of stretches
Verb
  • That auditing instinct shows up most clearly in how Gen Z weighs sources.
    — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 30 July 2026
  • For the remaining share of investors who do finance their deals, BrightBridge’s underwriting model, which weighs property fundamentals and exit strategy over personal income history, is designed to compete with the speed of an all-cash offer.
    — Kaitlyn Gomez, Miami Herald, 29 July 2026
Definition of weighs
Noun
  • Her work has reached 100+ million learners through videos, courses, and keynotes at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, SXSW, and with teams at Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, Comcast, and more.
    — Big Think, Big Think, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Ahead of the 2026 football season, AJC Varsity is announcing our preseason all-state teams.
    — Todd Holcomb, AJC.com, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of teams

Browse Nearby Words

spanning
spans
spar
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Spans.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spans. Accessed 4 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on spans

Nglish: Translation of spans for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of élan

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

How long is a jiffy?

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Dutch Treat and French Leave: Eight Place-Based Compounds

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
asap street sign
Figure Out These Acronyms ASAP You don't have to be a NASA engineer to get these...
See All