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spread-eagle

[spred-ee-guh l]
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adjective
  1. having or suggesting the form of a spread eagle.
  2. lying prone with arms and legs outstretched.
  3. boastful or bombastic, especially in the display of patriotic or nationalistic pride in the U.S.
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verb (used with object), spread-ea·gled, spread-ea·gling.
  1. to stretch out (something) in the manner of a spread eagle.
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verb (used without object), spread-ea·gled, spread-ea·gling.
  1. to assume the position or perform the acrobatic figure of a spread eagle: The skater spread-eagled across the rink.
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Origin of spread-eagle

First recorded in 1820–30

spread eagle

noun
  1. a representation of an eagle with outspread wings: used as an emblem of the U.S.
  2. 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.
  3. an acrobatic stunt in ski jumping executed with the legs and arms widely outstretched to the sides.
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Origin of spread eagle

First recorded in 1560–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for spread-eagle

Historical Examples

  • The ball-room was in the third story of the Spread-Eagle Hotel.

    The Blunders of a Bashful Man

    Metta Victoria Fuller Victor

  • Two or three of them, in fact, to spread-eagle whatever it is.

    Skylark Three

    Edward Elmer Smith

  • "Shuffle and spread-eagle them again, for luck," Carney suggested.

    Bulldog Carney

    W. A. Fraser

  • You can't leave your country without taking the spread-eagle with you!

  • The paper bore our Florentine water-mark, and was written with a Spread-Eagle. '

British Dictionary definitions for spread-eagle

spread-eagle

adjective Also: spread-eagled
  1. lying or standing with arms and legs outstretched
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verb
  1. to assume or cause to assume the shape of a spread eagle
  2. (intr) skating to execute a spread eagle
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spread eagle

noun
  1. the representation of an eagle with outstretched wings, used as an emblem of the US
  2. an acrobatic skating figure
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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 spread-eagle

literally "splayed eagle," 1560s, a heraldic term; the figure is that of the seal of the United States (hence spreadeagleism "extravagant laudation of the U.S.," 1858). Meaning "person secured with arms and legs stretched out" (originally to be flogged) is attested from 1785.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper