as in spreading
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 splaying
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
Literary Hub, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splaying
Verb
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As portfolio manager on the iShares Global Government Bond USD Hedged Active ETF (GGOV), Becker is making the case for spreading allocations out to governments around the globe.—
Michelle Fox,
CNBC,
13 Oct. 2025
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Even Swift’s mom, Andrea, got her close-up, bracelet stack and all, while spreading the friendship at Hard Rock Stadium.—
Bryan West,
USA Today,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Starting safety Drew Mukuba moved to a full-time role against the Denver Broncos after initially splitting time with Sydney Brown in base packages.—
Brooks Kubena,
New York Times,
10 Oct. 2025
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The team pointed out that the new device integrates organic semiconductors with enzymes from sulphate-reducing bacteria, splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen or converting carbon dioxide into formate.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Soft and sweet, his voice fit the song like a glove, radiating simple pleasures throughout.—
Andy Swift,
TVLine,
7 Oct. 2025
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What had seemed an impossible task transformed into a practical matter of six little arrows, radiating around a central concept.—
Zadie Smith,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Splaying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splaying. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
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