a representation of an eagle with outspread wings: used as an emblem of the U.S.
an acrobatic figure in skating performed by making a glide with the skates touching heel-to-heel in a straight line and with the arms outstretched.
an acrobatic stunt in ski jumping executed with the legs and arms widely outstretched to the sides.
having or suggesting the form of a spread eagle.
lying prone with arms and legs outstretched.
boastful or bombastic, especially in the display of patriotic or nationalistic pride in the U.S.
to assume or cause to assume the shape of a spread eagle
(intr) skating to execute a spread eagle
the representation of an eagle with outstretched wings, used as an emblem of the US
an acrobatic skating figure
First recorded in 1560–70
First recorded in 1820–30
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The crash sent his friend "face down, spread eagle, with Gwyneth on top of him", but Ms Paltrow slid off him and bolted from the scene while he lay unresponsive, Mr Ramone testified.
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2023
Niskanen crossed the line and collapsed, spread eagle, with a time of 37 minutes, 54.8 seconds.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 11, 2022
When a girl went into labor, she was dropped off at a hospital, where most labored alone, often strapped, spread eagle, to a hospital bed, according to “The Girls Who Went Away.”
From Washington Post ● Nov. 19, 2018
In one of their lifts, Ms. Virtue looked almost angelic, balancing on Mr. Moir's right thigh with her arms outstretched while he stayed in a deep-kneed spread eagle before she flipped down into his arms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2010
When Caper mentioned to him that he wished to leave his hotel, take a studio and private lodgings, then Rocjean expanded from an old owl into a spread eagle.
From The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 3, March, 1862 by Various
Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 33 shots, including a spread-eagle glove save with 2:37 left in regulation of Shea Theodore’s long slap shot.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 26, 2022
The sight of Real Madrid’s players, spread-eagle on the field in a state of pure, blissful exhaustion, having somehow turned certain defeat into a triumph actually happens with alarming frequency.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2022
Did you hear about the airline passenger who wound up face down and spread-eagle on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport this month?
From Washington Post ● Oct. 17, 2021
So we come upstairs to find you basically spread-eagle, standing on top of the headboard, hanging up this crazy artwork all by yourself.
From Slate ● Mar. 11, 2021
“Now stop it, Jem Finch,” he said, and resumed his spread-eagle position.
From "Go Set a Watchman: A Novel" by Harper Lee
Demus demands greatness, piercing ears with her whistle, running workouts so vigorous that athletes wind up face down and spread-eagled on the track in exhaustion.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2023
After an initial save on Conor Sheary, he made two more off Ovechkin and Dylan Strome while spread-eagled on the ice.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022
Keisala got her right pad out to make a spread-eagled stop on Amanda Kessel driving in on a breakaway, while Kelly Pannek was stopped trying to jam in a loose puck from atop the crease.
From Fox News ● Feb. 14, 2022
Spotted skunks perform a spread-eagled handstand before they spray you.
From New York Times ● Sep. 1, 2021
The baby is spread-eagled and looks more like he’s flying than swimming.
From "The Sun Is Also a Star" by Nicola Yoon
Kenya's David Rudisha provided the most spectacular individual performance on the track, spread-eagling the field to break his own world 800 meters record without the benefit of pacemakers.
From Reuters ● Dec. 28, 2012
But on the long run-in from the last fence and with the race at his mercy, the horse unaccountably lost his footing, spread-eagling himself on the turf.
From Reuters ● Feb. 14, 2010
This was what Navy Secretary Frank Knox meant last week as he did some unqualified spread-eagling: At the end of last year, the U.S. had a Navy second to none.
From Time Magazine Archive
She glanced from the helmet which the airman held toward her to the monoplane spread-eagling on the ground.
From Secret History Revealed By Lady Peggy O'Malley by Rowe, Clarence H. (Clarence Herbert)
“I set it by the ship’s time before our capsize, and it goes pretty correctly, for I didn’t forget to wind it up all the time we were spread-eagling on the bulwarks.”
From The White Squall A Story of the Sargasso Sea by Schonberg, J.
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.
