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.
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of splaying
Little happens other than chain-smoking, costume changes and interminable shots of color-shifting strobe lighting splaying across the cast’s cheekbones.
—
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
19 May 2026
When an ice storm is in the forecast, support plants with weak branches that are susceptible to splaying or breaking, like arborvitae and 'Sky Pencil' holly.
—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
4 Feb. 2026
Weah often stayed high, with Miles Robinson splaying out to the right touchline in a traditional right fullback position.
—
Paul Tenorio,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 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
Amy Nicholson,
Los Angeles Times,
19 May 2026
When an ice storm is in the forecast, support plants with weak branches that are susceptible to splaying or breaking, like arborvitae and 'Sky Pencil' holly.
—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
4 Feb. 2026
Weah often stayed high, with Miles Robinson splaying out to the right touchline in a traditional right fullback position.
—
Paul Tenorio,
New York Times,
11 Oct. 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splaying
Verb
-
Winslow has been on a ventilator and is now battling septic shock, with organ failure and a spreading infection.
-
Ukraine's drone revolution is spreading from the air to the ground.
Verb
-
After nine years playing in the majors, Hoffman took up coaching in the Dodgers’ minor league farm system, splitting time between managing and coordinating field instruction for player development.
-
The ampd YouTube dashboard lets clients drill down from a national overview to a single channel, splitting any metric by age, gender, income and region, and switching the view between reach, hours watched and individual titles.
Verb
-
That same feel-good factor is radiating in Mexico and Canada, with the three host nations unbeaten after two games each, combining for extremely strong vibes across matches and fan festivals.
-
In one engraving from van Deventer’s manual, his arm is shown inserted into an empty uterus almost up to the elbow, the engraver’s close, texturing lines transforming his hand into a radiating light within a cavernous female darkness.
Cite this Entry
“Splaying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splaying. Accessed 2 Jul. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
