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
Behind them were strobe lights and a striking LED screen backdrop splayed with lyrics and images of animated alligators shooting lasers from their snouts.—Sacbee.com, 12 July 2025 Such shoes for flat feet give them enough room to splay out in the shoes, without causing painful rubbing on your toes and the sides of your feet.—Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 25 June 2025
Noun
The design delivers unsurpassed toe splay, enforced by the separate toe pockets, and a close-to-the-ground, near-barefoot ride.—Jonathan Beverly, Outside Online, 23 June 2025 My students’ affront felt as sensible to me as expecting anatomy classes to flag each splay of flesh.—Erin Khuê Ninh
june 17, Literary Hub, 17 June 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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