as in to spread
to cause to move outward and apart
He sat with his legs splayed apart. She splayed her fingers to show off her manicure.
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of splay
The viewer, like Malin Akerman’s Margo and Jaime Ray Newman’s Callie, see the result of whatever that exchange was, which was Starr’s bloody corpse splayed out on Jill’s pristine kitchen floor.
—
Dana Feldman, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025
Your recurring daydream of spending unending hours splayed out on the beach should take place right here, on the beaches of Isla Verde, located on the edge of San Juan.
—Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 26 July 2025
The model in the chartreuse spinning there, right on the edge, arms splayed.
—Mona Awad, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
On stage, with her back turned, stands Helen Shivers in her full beauty queen attire, staring down at Danica's fiancé's dead body splayed on ice.
—Yolanda MacHado, EW.com, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for splay
Dana Feldman, Forbes.com, 29 July 2025
Your recurring daydream of spending unending hours splayed out on the beach should take place right here, on the beaches of Isla Verde, located on the edge of San Juan.
—Carley Rojas Avila, Travel + Leisure, 26 July 2025
The model in the chartreuse spinning there, right on the edge, arms splayed.
—Mona Awad, New Yorker, 20 July 2025
On stage, with her back turned, stands Helen Shivers in her full beauty queen attire, staring down at Danica's fiancé's dead body splayed on ice.
—Yolanda MacHado, EW.com, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for splay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splay
Verb
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Controlling a fire means ensuring that the fire can't spread or cross the containment line.—
CA WILDFIRE BOT,
Sacbee.com,
6 Sep. 2025
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Ten Hag’s first season at United yielded silverware and a third-place league finish, but also had bouts of concerning away form, with tactical weaknesses that would eventually spread and critically undermine his plans for the future.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Others view it as a brazen attempt to split up Kansas City’s minority voters.—
Kacen Bayless,
Kansas City Star,
9 Sep. 2025
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That resulted in a hung parliament split between the National Rally, the left-wing New Popular Front, and Macron’s Renaissance bloc.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
9 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Splay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splay. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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