sprawl
Americanverb (used without object)
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sprawls,
present (3rd person singular)
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sprawled,
past participle, past
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sprawling
present participle
-
to be stretched or spread out in an unnatural or ungraceful manner.
The puppy's legs sprawled in all directions.
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to sit or lie in a relaxed position with the limbs spread out carelessly or ungracefully.
He sprawled across the bed.
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to spread out, extend, or be distributed in a straggling or irregular manner, as vines, buildings, handwriting, etc.
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to crawl awkwardly with the aid of all the limbs; scramble.
verb (used with object)
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sprawls,
present (3rd person singular)
-
sprawled,
past participle, past
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sprawling
present participle
-
to stretch out (the limbs) as in sprawling.
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to spread out or distribute in a straggling manner.
noun
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sprawls
plural
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the act or an instance of sprawling; a sprawling posture.
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a straggling array of something.
verb
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(intr) to sit or lie in an ungainly manner with one's limbs spread out
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to fall down or knock down with the limbs spread out in an ungainly way
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to spread out or cause to spread out in a straggling fashion
his handwriting sprawled all over the paper
noun
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the act or an instance of sprawling
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a sprawling posture or arrangement of items
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-
the urban area formed by the expansion of a town or city into surrounding countryside
the urban sprawl
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the process by which this has happened
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Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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sprawlsimple
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sprawlssimple
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have sprawledperfect
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has sprawledperfect
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am sprawlingprogressive
-
are sprawlingprogressive
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is sprawlingprogressive
-
have been sprawlingperfect progressive
-
has been sprawlingperfect progressive
Past
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sprawledsimple
-
had sprawledperfect
-
was sprawlingprogressive
-
were sprawlingprogressive
-
had been sprawlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of sprawl
before 1000; Middle English spraulen to move awkwardly, Old English spreawlian; cognate with Frisian (N dial.) spraweli
Explanation
When you sprawl, you spread out in an ungainly way, like when you're lying down comfortably on the sofa with your legs and arms flung out around you. As a noun, the most common use of this word nowadays is in the phrase "urban sprawl" (or "suburban sprawl"), which describes municipal development — things like new neighborhoods, shopping malls, and office complexes — that spreads out of control, according to no approved plan, and usually with pretty ugly results.
Vocabulary lists containing sprawl
The Diary of Anne Frank
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List 3
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The Cay
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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:
Not that Oswalt always has time to sprawl out with a novel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
Rules required minimum lot sizes of 5,750 square feet for single-family homes, and strict single-family zoning ordinances were criticized for creating sprawl.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
According to Georgette Blau, founder and owner of On Location Tours, L.A.’s sprawl has something to do with that.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
Some corporate tech chiefs are similarly taking a proactive approach to managing their AI agents, hoping to prevent agent sprawl from becoming a more widespread problem.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
These require constant attentiveness if you are not to twist an ankle or sprawl on your face—not a pleasant experience with fifty pounds of momentum on your back.
From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson
But when you walk up on his roof, a scenic view of his home city sprawls beneath Todd.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
It sprawls across 10,010 square feet and is the epitome of luxury thanks to its lush greenery, which makes it the perfect place for a star to seek privacy.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 23, 2026
The city of Los Angeles sprawls across roughly 500 square miles, creating logistical hurdles if nothing else for a candidate seeking citywide office from a remote location, noted Democratic political consultant Mike Trujillo.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 10, 2026
The megastore sprawls across 150,000 square feet—triple the size of a typical store.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
Minchacaman was a powerful figure who could have taken In this rare aerial photograph—taken in 1931, before modern looting blasted the site—the ruined Chimor capital of Chan Chan sprawls across the northern Peruvian coast.
From "1491" by Charles C. Mann
Meanwhile, at a sports hall in Las Rozas de Madrid just outside the capital, the displaced sprawled on camp beds, held their heads in their hands and comforted pets as they awaited news.
From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026
Blue skies extended to the horizon, and a small colony of tents, camper vans and motorhomes sprawled out across the lush alfalfa fields.
From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2026
Size was also a theme of the event itself, which sprawled across two exhibition centers, including a monumental new complex designed by architect Zaha Hadid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
Behind the Peace River plant, sprawled out across a massive lawn, and behind a chain-link fence, were the ruins of a processing infrastructure.
From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026
A farmer ran up to help him, and a larger group of Russian men arrived in a car, surrounding him as he lay sprawled on the ground.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
Back in Chicago, I lived in a sprawling three-story Colonial perched perfectly in a cul-de-sac.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Instead of exposed ice, they resemble sprawling fields of loose rock, while potentially concealing large quantities of ice below the surface.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 28, 2026
A few crumbling concrete blocks in an overgrown field are all that remains visible of what was once a sprawling Nazi forced labour complex around the Austrian town of Leobersdorf.
From Barron's ● Aug. 28, 2026
Eight feet to my right, a 1,000-foot cliff falls away, revealing a sprawling panorama of wild desertscape outside of Moab, Utah.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
I nodded toward a dark sprawling building farther down the path, its walls glistening with arch after arch of segmented windows.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
