as in 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 splayed
Isabelle hops, arms splayed upward, hits the water, and swims to Mom.
—
Gerald Witt, AJC.com, 1 Mar. 2026
Jurors saw a photo of Saxon’s small mattress splayed on a bare concrete floor beside a case of bottled water and some Ensure protein drinks.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 25 Feb. 2026
Judges score the flips and spins, including pretzel-like shapes with skis splayed or crossed, before the skiers pull up at the last split second and slam skis-first into the landing area, kicking up a spray of snow.
—ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026
The entire western-facing wall of the house is glass—the valley and forest splayed out before us, in every shade of green imaginable.
—Devorah Lev-Tov, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Jan. 2026
Also, there are no people and everything is compressed, as if a giant hand had come down from the sky and harmlessly splayed the three-dimensional world out into two, for easier viewing.
—Lori Waxman, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
During this particularly artsy weekend, more than 600 artists turn the streets of downtown Lake Worth Beach into a temporary open-air museum with larger-than-life chalk murals splayed across Lake and Lucerne Avenues.
—Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 22 Dec. 2025
Compacted into 137 bundles, that steel had to be meticulously splayed out in order to successfully loop around the roadbed, just before the Yerba Buena Tunnel.
—Katie Lauer, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025
The clip accompanying the Facebook post starts with the 600-pound gator splayed out on a Florida road as several uniformed people approach it.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 5 Dec. 2025
Gerald Witt, AJC.com, 1 Mar. 2026
Jurors saw a photo of Saxon’s small mattress splayed on a bare concrete floor beside a case of bottled water and some Ensure protein drinks.
—Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 25 Feb. 2026
Judges score the flips and spins, including pretzel-like shapes with skis splayed or crossed, before the skiers pull up at the last split second and slam skis-first into the landing area, kicking up a spray of snow.
—ABC News, 16 Feb. 2026
The entire western-facing wall of the house is glass—the valley and forest splayed out before us, in every shade of green imaginable.
—Devorah Lev-Tov, Condé Nast Traveler, 19 Jan. 2026
Also, there are no people and everything is compressed, as if a giant hand had come down from the sky and harmlessly splayed the three-dimensional world out into two, for easier viewing.
—Lori Waxman, Chicago Tribune, 2 Jan. 2026
During this particularly artsy weekend, more than 600 artists turn the streets of downtown Lake Worth Beach into a temporary open-air museum with larger-than-life chalk murals splayed across Lake and Lucerne Avenues.
—Skye Sherman, Southern Living, 22 Dec. 2025
Compacted into 137 bundles, that steel had to be meticulously splayed out in order to successfully loop around the roadbed, just before the Yerba Buena Tunnel.
—Katie Lauer, Mercury News, 22 Dec. 2025
The clip accompanying the Facebook post starts with the 600-pound gator splayed out on a Florida road as several uniformed people approach it.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE, 5 Dec. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splayed
Verb
-
During a pre-launch hot-fire test, an anomaly in a single engine triggered a catastrophic fire that spread throughout the first stage.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Mar. 2026
-
The Board accused him of spreading misinformation about COVID-19, but moved to return his certification a few months later.—
Romy Ellenbogen,
Miami Herald,
9 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The storms will be scattered, according to Doom, mostly near a warm front that is expected to cover the southern portion of the area.—
Madeline King,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Mar. 2026
-
At universities, the study of ancient Chinese texts has historically been scattered across disciplines; now, under government direction, universities are trying to gather that scholarship in new classics departments where, one theory goes, ancient truths can be nurtured and passed down.—
Chang Che,
New Yorker,
8 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Proposition 50 also split the sprawling district held by Kiley, a Republican from Rocklin, into six pieces, leaving the Northern California congressman and frequent Newsom critic with few good options.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Mar. 2026
-
However, in the aftermath of their legendary Woodstock performance, Country Joe and the Fish split up, and McDonald embarked on his own solo career beginning with 1969’s Thinking of Woody Guthrie, a collection of songs by the folk legend.—
Daniel Kreps,
Rolling Stone,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Splayed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splayed. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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