Verb
He sat with his legs splayed apart.
She splayed her fingers to show off her manicure.
His fingers splayed out over the table as he steadied himself.
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Verb
Officers found Williams splayed across the hood of a nearby car, suffering horrific injuries.—Eric Umansky, ProPublica, 11 Mar. 2025 At two months old, he's splayed across her body, fast asleep, while other lambs walk over to sniff the lamb and human, as though wondering what's going on.—William Lambers, Newsweek, 7 Mar. 2025
Noun
On the run, what stood out most was the generous forefoot width: the upper allows enough splay to wear full CorrectToes comfortably and the base is wide enough underfoot for a confident stance and powerful toe-off without any tippiness.—Jonathan Beverly, Outside Online, 12 Mar. 2025 The wide toe box for foot splay and limited structure allows the foot to naturally strengthen.—Tim Newcomb, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for splay
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English splaien "to unfurl, spread out, spread-eagle, split (a fish) lengthwise and lay open," aphetic form of displaien "to unfurl (a banner), spread (the arms), display entry 1"
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