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 sneakers feature Altra’s signature FootShape design, which splays at the front to give your toes ample space for natural movement.
—
Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2025
Due to the blunt force of this reentry, the engines in the outer ring of the rocket wanted to get splayed out, the company's chief of propulsion at the time, Tom Mueller, told me for the book Reentry.
—Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
Bob came out, blinking his eyes hard and closing his big fists tight, splaying his fingers back out in a pink baby starfish.
—Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2025
Neither do the police, nor the Ring cameras affixed to the facades on several neighborhood homes, though at least the latter capture footage of kids bounding through their front doors, arms splayed like wings, into early morning’s opaque embrace.
—Andy Crump, Time, 9 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for splay
Olivia Young, Travel + Leisure, 14 Sep. 2025
Due to the blunt force of this reentry, the engines in the outer ring of the rocket wanted to get splayed out, the company's chief of propulsion at the time, Tom Mueller, told me for the book Reentry.
—Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 28 Aug. 2025
Bob came out, blinking his eyes hard and closing his big fists tight, splaying his fingers back out in a pink baby starfish.
—Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2025
Neither do the police, nor the Ring cameras affixed to the facades on several neighborhood homes, though at least the latter capture footage of kids bounding through their front doors, arms splayed like wings, into early morning’s opaque embrace.
—Andy Crump, Time, 9 Aug. 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,
11 Oct. 2025
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These swells are expected to spread toward the Turks and Caicos Islands and Bahamas tonight and on Saturday.—
MIAMI HERALD HURRICANE BOT,
Miami Herald,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The 18 qualified teams were split into pots of three, according to their UEFA coefficient, and were drawn against two teams from each pot, with three matches away and three at home.—
Megan Feringa,
New York Times,
7 Oct. 2025
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So, all those nine teams splitting the first two on the road won the series … right?—
Ryan Ford,
Freep.com,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Splay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splay. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
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