splay
Americanverb (used with object)
-
splays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
splayed,
past participle, past
-
splaying
present participle
-
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.
verb (used without object)
-
splays,
present (3rd person singular)
-
splayed,
past participle, past
-
splaying
present participle
-
to have an oblique or slanting direction.
-
to spread or flare.
noun
adjective
-
spread out; wide and flat; turned outward.
-
clumsy or awkward.
-
oblique or awry.
adjective
-
spread out; broad and flat
-
turned outwards in an awkward manner
verb
-
to spread out; turn out or expand
-
(tr) vet science to dislocate (a joint)
noun
-
a surface of a wall that forms an oblique angle to the main flat surfaces, esp at a doorway or window opening
-
enlargement
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
splaysimple
-
splayssimple
-
have splayedperfect
-
has splayedperfect
-
am splayingprogressive
-
are splayingprogressive
-
is splayingprogressive
-
have been splayingperfect progressive
-
has been splayingperfect progressive
Past
-
splayedsimple
-
had splayedperfect
-
was splayingprogressive
-
were splayingprogressive
-
had been splayingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of splay
1300–50; Middle English; aphetic form of display
Explanation
To splay is to spread out or widen. Peacocks splay their feathers when they want to show off. Basketball players splay their fingers around a basketball to get a better grip. The word splay is often seen as splayed. If you collapse on your bed with your arms and legs stretched out, you are splayed out on the bed. Fingers, toes, arms, and legs can all splay. Something that has a splayed shape is called a splay, like an architectural detail around a window or door. Splay comes from the verb display, originally "unfurl, unfold, or spread out."
Vocabulary lists containing splay
The Hobbit
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One of Us Is Lying
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Pax
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
"The foot does start to change shape and tends to splay a little bit over time," says Branthwaite.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
Her legs splay, tilt and leap readily into pratfall action.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2024
DePaolis and her team examined the effects of the splay fault ruptures on Montague Island.
From Science Daily ● May 20, 2024
Too many such cells caused the sepals to splay and expose the petals prematurely.
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 23, 2023
Gallons of the dark fluid burst out in a great splay across the workshop floor.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
A levee system that rings Oslo keeps water off city streets and out of basements, even when the flood-prone Red River splays out miles beyond its banks.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2022
This is a woman who has the world where she wants it, and who laughs blithely throughout our chat – even when discussing the terrifying anxieties she nightly splays across the stage.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 20, 2019
Sediment that breaches the levees during flood stage is called crevasse splays delivering silt and clay into the floodplain.
From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2017
The anole splays its little lizard fingers to break its fall as it hurtles face-first onto the ground.
From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2014
He splays his arms and fingers to show this is all his land.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Just before the trailer finishes, a hilarious decree comes down from Mount Disney, splayed across the screen like law: “See it in InfinityVision!”
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
I felt the same when I first came across Granny in my feed, splayed across Justin and Hailey Bieber’s arms at the Coachella Music Festival.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
They clipped 13 seconds of him tearing into a Whopper, sauce and a grin splayed across his face, and posted it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 7, 2026
Back in my room, I lay in bed and splayed out the cash in my hand, sending a photo of the bounty to my wife, who was surely fast asleep.
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2025
Mr. Kiley opens his hands wide, palms up, fingers splayed.
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
Images from the scene show a mangled heap of scaffolding and concrete splaying out onto the street, covered by green safety netting.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
On her knees, she bows, splaying her arm in praise.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 11, 2025
Under the watchful eyes of Ogiri inhabitants, he found himself splaying his hands, almost as if to say, Look, I come in peace.
From Slate ● Dec. 16, 2023
A blue face staring blankly from a shelf; a green spiderlike machine splaying its legs out of a basket on the ground; a delicate dragonfly robot balanced on a worktable.
From New York Times ● Jan. 6, 2023
He wanted me to take it all in, from the splaying palm trees that lined the streets of Honolulu and the crescent arc of Waikiki Beach to the green drape of hills surrounding the city.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
