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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"The Ravine" by Graham Salisbury
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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
Because splay faults are connected to these zones, their location makes researching them a challenge.
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
Branches splay out widely and become roosting places for choirs of myna birds.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 10, 2023
His upper teeth are small and splay out.
From "Wonder" by R. J. Palacio
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
They end as high-contrast splays of sound, ranging from melodic solo statements to coordinated wallops.
From New York Times ● May 4, 2017
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
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
On Wednesday, Apple splayed out its latest devices in an industrial New York warehouse.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 5, 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
The full video shows a man — Retes — splayed on the ground surrounded by agents.
From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2025
Waiters froze, huge trays of pasta quivering on their splayed fingers.
From "Artemis Fowl" by Eoin Colfer
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
Little happens other than chain-smoking, costume changes and interminable shots of color-shifting strobe lighting splaying across the cast’s cheekbones.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
With each new bird that arrived on-screen, she changed her approach, splaying herself flat on the floor and then pouncing in vain.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
Do not braid or fold the leaves; gather them with garden twine to prevent splaying.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 6, 2021
And just above my head, I discovered a hole had appeared in the windowpane, little cracks splaying out from it like the web of a spider.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
Definitions 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.
