sprawl
- to be stretched or spread out in an unnatural or ungraceful manner: The puppy's legs sprawled in all directions.
- to sit or lie in a relaxed position with the limbs spread out carelessly or ungracefully: He sprawled across the bed.
- to spread out, extend, or be distributed in a straggling or irregular manner, as vines, buildings, handwriting, etc.
- to crawl awkwardly with the aid of all the limbs; scramble.
- to stretch out (the limbs) as in sprawling.
- to spread out or distribute in a straggling manner.
- the act or an instance of sprawling; a sprawling posture.
- a straggling array of something.
Origin of sprawl
Synonyms for sprawl
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for sprawl
flop, ramble, slouch, recline, loll, lounge, drape, straggle, lie, extend, sit, stretch, slump, straddle, trail, spreadExamples from the Web for sprawl
Contemporary Examples of sprawl
Obama and the Democrats have embraced the argument that suburbs and sprawl are bad for you.
Auto factories tend to sprawl horizontally over huge lots, and have flat roofs.
The goal, of course, is to facilitate ever more densification of urban areas and to rein in the dreaded suburban “sprawl.”
Historical Examples of sprawl
I can sprawl on that seaweed and be as comfortable as a gull on a clam flat.
Fair HarborJoseph Crosby Lincoln
Once aboard, he fell in a sprawl on the boat's bottom, breathing heavily.
Owen Clancy's Happy TrailBurt L. Standish
We'd go a few steps, y'u know, 'n' then sprawl all over oursel's.
Tramping with TrampsJosiah Flynt
They wander about and sprawl in the shade of fine old trees.
Little Tony of ItalyMadeline Brandeis
Keep your horse well in hand all through, that he may not sprawl.
Riding for LadiesMrs. Power O'Donoghue
sprawl
- (intr) to sit or lie in an ungainly manner with one's limbs spread out
- to fall down or knock down with the limbs spread out in an ungainly way
- to spread out or cause to spread out in a straggling fashionhis handwriting sprawled all over the paper
- the act or an instance of sprawling
- a sprawling posture or arrangement of items
- the urban area formed by the expansion of a town or city into surrounding countrysidethe urban sprawl
- the process by which this has happened
Word Origin for sprawl
Word Origin and History for sprawl
Old English spreawlian "move convulsively," with cognates in the Scandinavian languages and North Frisian spraweli, probably ultimately from PIE root *sper- "to strew" (see sprout (v.)). Meaning "to spread or stretch in a careless manner" is attested from 1540s; of things, from 1745. Related: Sprawled; sprawling.
1719, from sprawl (v.); meaning "straggling expansion of built-up districts into surrounding countryside" is from 1955.