spraddle
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
Etymology
Origin of spraddle
1625–35; origin uncertain; compare Norwegian dialect spradla squirm, flail
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:
At Utah State University, he sent the discus on trajectories exceeding 180 ft. from the awkward spraddle that marks his stance.
From Time Magazine Archive
"And all the good hard dollars just waiting for someone to spraddle them around!" said Mr. Bunner with a note of pathos in his voice.
From The Woman in Black by Bentley, E. C. (Edmund Clerihew)
I watched her spraddle down the aisle and out through the little corridor before I dared risk the accident of a backward turn of that funny green hat.
From The Haunted Pajamas by Elliott, Francis Perry
And then they stay doormen forever, standing spraddled outside the door, their backs straight as furled umbrellas.
From New York Times ● Apr. 22, 2010
Richard bent low, collided with Seibert, kept his feet, made the goal one-handed, with Seibert still spraddled atop his shoulders.
From Time Magazine Archive
Special care was taken in constructing new buildings: all but one are flush with the ground, doors are wider than normal to accommodate wheelchairs and spraddled crutches, there are railings along porches and in bathrooms.
From Time Magazine Archive
Crow spraddled head-down in the beach-garbage, guzzling a dropped ice-cream.
From Time Magazine Archive
It was uncomfortable and his legs were spraddled and his body was very sore.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
Then he hit he tack, and I heard him holler and caught a glimpse of him spraddling up as I disappeared through the door.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
With measured tread, Tottie stalked to the double door, her eyes shifting, and one hand outstretched with spraddling fingers to indicate caution.
From Apron-Strings by Gates, Eleanor
"It takes just so much time to do so much work," stated Welton succinctly, "and it don't matter whether you do it all at once, or try to fool yourself by spraddling it out."
From The Rules of the Game by White, Stewart Edward
For two or three years he followed the flocks in their summer grazing over the vast, spraddling mesas of Pine Mountain, and made a general nuisance of himself in the camps.
From Bears I Have Met—and Others by Kelly, Allen
He was still couched there, spraddling ridiculously on his stomach, with his legs outstretched in a sawbuck pattern, as we came away.
From Paths of Glory Impressions of War Written at and Near the Front by Cobb, Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury)
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.
