sprawl

[sprawl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sprawl ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

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.

verb (used with object)

to stretch out (the limbs) as in sprawling.

to spread out or distribute in a straggling manner.

noun

the act or an instance of sprawling; a sprawling posture.

a straggling array of something.

Origin of sprawl

before 1000; Middle English spraulen to move awkwardly, Old English spreawlian; cognate with Frisian (N dial.) spraweli

Related formssprawl·er, nounsprawl·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for sprawl

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sprawl ON THESAURUS.COM

3. straggle, branch.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for sprawl

flop, ramble, slouch, recline, loll, lounge, drape, straggle, lie, extend, sit, stretch, slump, straddle, trail, spread

Examples 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.
The Progressives’ War on Suburbia
Joel Kotkin
November 16, 2014
Auto factories tend to sprawl horizontally over huge lots, and have flat roofs.
Charging Up
The Daily Beast
October 28, 2014
The goal, of course, is to facilitate ever more densification of urban areas and to rein in the dreaded suburban “sprawl.”
Are Millennials Turning Their Backs on the American Dream?
Joel Kotkin
November 10, 2013

Historical Examples of sprawl

I can sprawl on that seaweed and be as comfortable as a gull on a clam flat.
Fair Harbor
Joseph Crosby Lincoln
Once aboard, he fell in a sprawl on the boat's bottom, breathing heavily.
Owen Clancy's Happy Trail
Burt L. Standish
We'd go a few steps, y'u know, 'n' then sprawl all over oursel's.
Tramping with Tramps
Josiah Flynt
They wander about and sprawl in the shade of fine old trees.
Little Tony of Italy
Madeline Brandeis
Keep your horse well in hand all through, that he may not sprawl.
Riding for Ladies
Mrs. Power O'Donoghue

British Dictionary definitions for sprawl

sprawl

verb

(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

noun

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

Derived Formssprawler, nounsprawly, adjective

Word Origin for sprawl

Old English spreawlian; related to Old English spryttan to sprout, spurt, Greek speirein to scatter

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.