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
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
There are echoes, too, of Trish Brown’s gravity-defying dances with ropes and harnesses — especially when Ms. Bauer climbs a huge charred tree and splays her body horizontally.
From New York Times ● Mar. 21, 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
Arms out, fingers splayed, she takes a comic-book summoning pose familiar from decades of mutant movies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
On the Estonian side, antitank obstacles called dragon’s teeth are splayed along a small section of the riverbank, fenced in by barbed wire.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
Biking gear and supplies were splayed around the living room.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 1, 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
In September 1832, exploring the gray cliffs and low-lying clay bays near Punta Alta, he discovered an astonishing natural cemetery, with fossilized bones of enormous extinct mammals splayed out before him.
From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee
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
The rake was so steep that only by splaying my knees could I glimpse the screen far below.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
Holding her by the handles, Kanagawa played with her spindly, splaying cardboard legs and recounted how he learned to shift her udder to one side when she needs to sit down.
From New York Times ● Jun. 29, 2022
The little creature flops down on a nearby cushion, her legs splaying in all directions.
From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton
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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.
