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
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
With his eyes rolled back in his head and his hand splayed in front of him, Will stops them each mid-air and kills them instantly.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 26 Nov. 2025
On the album cover, she’s splayed across a blue-gray carpet in a brown sweater and sheer tights.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2025
Another video shared the same day showed multiple men in tactical vests loading into a vehicle with a similar Mexican flag splayed across the hood.
—Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 29 Oct. 2025
The new tattoo, completed late Tuesday, now is a Celtic knot with a dog-like creature splayed in the middle of it.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2025
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
With his eyes rolled back in his head and his hand splayed in front of him, Will stops them each mid-air and kills them instantly.
—Katie Campione, Deadline, 26 Nov. 2025
On the album cover, she’s splayed across a blue-gray carpet in a brown sweater and sheer tights.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 21 Nov. 2025
Another video shared the same day showed multiple men in tactical vests loading into a vehicle with a similar Mexican flag splayed across the hood.
—Ximena Bustillo, NPR, 29 Oct. 2025
The new tattoo, completed late Tuesday, now is a Celtic knot with a dog-like creature splayed in the middle of it.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splayed
Verb
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The group also reported that more than 2,300 people have been arrested and that demonstrations have spread to at least 180 cities nationwide.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
11 Jan. 2026
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The band was also unique in allowing fans to tape the concerts, with vigorous trading of tapes helping to spread recognition of their music outside of radio play.—
Adam Levine,
CNN Money,
11 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Farther south, more stormwater treatment areas, 97 square miles of them in all, are scattered between the sugarcane and vegetable fields that make the EAA among the most bountiful regions in the nation and the fragile Everglades.—
Amy Green,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
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But the most compelling aspect of these eight episodes, set a year after Industry sold off the Pierpoint bank that once employed most of its characters and scattered them to London’s various elite cloisters, is the sense that money has never really been the point of the show.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Their relationship hasn't been without bumps — the pair briefly split in 2015 — but the couple has managed to weather the ups and downs.—
Stephanie Sengwe,
PEOPLE,
13 Jan. 2026
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For a splurge, split a stateroom in The Haven by Norwegian, a ship-within-a-ship concept offering luxury accommodations and 24-hour butler service.—
Lauren Dana Ellman,
Travel + Leisure,
13 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Splayed.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splayed. Accessed 22 Jan. 2026.
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