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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Recent Examples of splay
The suspect was heavyset and walked with a unique gait, feet splayed apart, as seen in the surveillance video.
—
Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2026
One moment, she’s splayed across the marquetry top of the dining table.
—Sam Cochran, Architectural Digest, 15 Apr. 2026
His fingers splayed and writhed like a terrible mandible.
—Douglas Stuart, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2026
As the footage continues, the pair falls out of sight behind the white sedan for about a minute before the sedan suddenly speeds away, revealing one man splayed across the ground as the gunman appears to straddle him.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for splay
Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2026
One moment, she’s splayed across the marquetry top of the dining table.
—Sam Cochran, Architectural Digest, 15 Apr. 2026
His fingers splayed and writhed like a terrible mandible.
—Douglas Stuart, New Yorker, 12 Apr. 2026
As the footage continues, the pair falls out of sight behind the white sedan for about a minute before the sedan suddenly speeds away, revealing one man splayed across the ground as the gunman appears to straddle him.
—Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 18 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for splay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splay
Verb
-
The hotel has 277 rooms and suites spread across 12 floors of the 42-story building, ranging from a 460-square-foot deluxe room to the ultra-luxe 2,300-square-foot Presidential Suite, built for entertaining.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 June 2026
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Worthington’s column was serialized, spreading this idea around.—
Jonathan Odden,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
Verb
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Those who paid taxes in 2023 reflecting higher than a 15% increase will be issued credits split over their property tax bills throughout the next three years.—
Ilana Arougheti,
Kansas City Star,
31 May 2026
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Graphite One says production will be split between materials optimized for energy storage systems, fast-charging applications, and high-energy-density batteries.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
31 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Splay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splay. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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