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
They’re easily startled and may arch their back and splay their hands, as if to say, “The world is stressful for me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025
"These splay faults are closer to the coast, so these tsunamis will be faster to hit the coastline than a tsunami generated only from a subduction zone earthquake."
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
His stiff forelegs splay out to the sides like stilts, for he’s been caught in the act of reaching down for water.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
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
Simmer the farro or spelt until it splays.
From New York Times ● Aug. 29, 2014
It splays across the hot cement and dangles near the toes of her sneakers.
From "Hello, Universe" by Erin Entrada Kelly
He offers instead a soul-print in which Yarris’ plight is captured in the splayed nerve endings of the stage character he creates.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 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
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
She splayed herself, prostrate on the ground, her right cheek pressed against the pavement, which was searingly hot from the midday sun.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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
The rake was so steep that only by splaying my knees could I glimpse the screen far below.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 8, 2022
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
“But I saw you outside earlier when Jack dropped you off, and your face was”— Vivian lifts her knobby hands, splaying her fingers—“all lit up. You were talking up a storm.”
From "Orphan Train" by Christina Baker Kline
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.
