splay
to spread out, expand, or extend.
to form with an oblique angle; make slanting; bevel.
to make with a splay or splays.
to disjoin; dislocate.
to have an oblique or slanting direction.
to spread or flare.
Architecture. a surface that makes an oblique angle with another, as where the opening through a wall for a window or door widens from the window or door proper toward the face of the wall.
spread out; wide and flat; turned outward.
clumsy or awkward.
oblique or awry.
Origin of splay
1Other words from splay
- un·splayed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use splay in a sentence
That is, his shoe is made to fit the foot, which narrows at the heel, and splays out at the toes.
Islam Her Moral And Spiritual Value | Arthur Glyn LeonardThe effect of the windows inside is much enhanced by the lovely quatrefoil ornamentation with which their splays are decorated.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield | A. B. CliftonThese are broken by long, narrow, round-headed openings, vivified by ball moldings ornamenting the heavy rounding of their splays.
Cathedrals of Spain | John A. (John Allyne) GadeIt consists of three recessed arches hooding with deep splays the three doorways which lead into nave and side aisles.
Cathedrals of Spain | John A. (John Allyne) GadeAnglo-Saxon single-light windows have two splays, increasing in width from the centre of the wall in which the window is placed.
English Villages | P. H. Ditchfield
British Dictionary definitions for splay
/ (spleɪ) /
spread out; broad and flat
turned outwards in an awkward manner
to spread out; turn out or expand
(tr) vet science to dislocate (a joint)
a surface of a wall that forms an oblique angle to the main flat surfaces, esp at a doorway or window opening
enlargement
Origin of splay
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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