spread
Verbspreads, spreading, spread
Noun pluralspreads (some meanings)
Formsspreads, spreading, spread
Pluralspreads (some meanings)
- 1To move into more places or reach more people, or to grow to cover a bigger area.
Like a small fire that slowly grows to cover a whole field.
The rumor spread quickly through the school.
Panic can spread when people hear bad news.
UsagePast tense is spread (not
incorrect: spreaded). A rumor spread to a town, or through the school. - 2To make something reach many places or many people.
Like throwing seeds across a field so plants grow everywhere.
She spread the news to everyone in town.
Flies can spread germs to food.
UsageSay spread the news or spread the word to tell many people.
Similardisseminate, circulate, propagate, broadcast
- 3To scatter things over an area.
Like sprinkling sand all over a sandbox.
The farmer spread seeds across the field.
Gardeners spread fertilizer over the soil each spring.
UsageSay spread something over or across a place.
Similarscatter, sow, distribute
- 4The way something moves into more places or reaches more people.
Like butter slowly covering a whole slice of bread.
Doctors worked hard to stop the spread of the disease.
The fast spread of the fire forced people to leave their homes.
UsageSay the spread of a disease or a fire, as in stop the spread of it.
Similarproliferation, diffusion, expansion, transmission, dissemination
- 5To put a thin layer of something soft, like butter, over a surface.
Like painting a thin coat of glue across paper.
He spread butter on his toast.
You can spread the jam evenly with a knife.
UsageSay spread butter on bread, or spread bread with butter.
- 6To open something out or stretch it wide, like a map on a table or a bird's wings.
Like opening a folded sheet so it covers a whole bed.
She spread the blanket out on the grass.
You can spread the map across the table to see the whole route.
UsageOften spread out: spread a blanket out on the grass.
- 7To share out a cost, payments, or work over a period of time or between several people.
You can spread the cost of the new fridge over six months.
Let's spread the cleaning jobs between all four of us.
UsageSay spread the cost over six months, or between people.
Similardistribute, divide, split, stagger
- 8A soft food you put on bread, like butter or jam.
Like soft butter that slides easily across bread.
She bought a chocolate spread for the kids' sandwiches.
This spread tastes like real strawberries.
UsageOften cheese spread or chocolate spread.
Note
- 9The difference between two numbers, rates, or amounts.
Like the gap between the shortest and tallest kid in class.
The spread between the two prices was only a few cents.
There's a wide spread in test scores this year.
UsageSay the spread between two numbers, or a wide spread.
Similardifferential, gap
- 10The gap between the price buyers offer and the price sellers ask.
Like one person offering $9 for a toy while another asks $10: the dollar between them is the spread.
On heavily traded stocks, the spread is just a penny or two.
A wide spread makes it more costly to buy and sell quickly.
Note
- 11To open the legs wide, especially as an offer of sex.
Rumors claimed she would spread for anyone who paid her enough.
She swore she would never spread just to keep a job.
Note
- 12
Less common meanings
- 13In sports betting, the number of points the stronger team is expected to win by.
Like the gap between the winner's score and the loser's score.
The spread for Sunday's game is seven points.
Our team won, but not by enough to cover the spread.
UsageA favored team covers the spread when it wins by enough points.
Note
- 14A newspaper or magazine story that fills more than one page or column.
Like a story so big it needs several pages to fit.
The newspaper ran a two-page spread about the festival.
Her photos appeared in a glossy magazine spread.
UsageOften a two-page spread about something.
Similarfeature, article, story
Note
- 15The two pages that face each other when a book lies open.
Like the two open pages of a book lying flat.
The atlas showed the whole country on one spread.
A map covered the entire spread of the open book.
- 16
- 17
- 18How widely the values in a set of data differ from one another.
Like how far apart kids stand in a game: close together or scattered wide.
Our results had a large spread, so many were far from the average.
A small spread means the numbers sit close together.
Similardispersion, variability, variation
Note
- 19
- 20
- 21The way cards are laid out in a chosen pattern for a reading.
Like setting out cards in a chosen pattern, where each spot tells part of the story.
The reader arranged a simple three-card spread on the table.
Each position in the spread has its own special meaning.
Similarlayout
Note
- 22
- 23Something that has been laid out or spread across a surface.
- 24The price difference between futures contracts for the same good delivered in two different months.
- 25Buying a futures contract for one delivery month while simultaneously selling one for another month of the same product.
- 26A group of torpedoes fired at once along slightly different paths toward enemy ships.
- 27An endless space made up of separate, unconnected points.
- 28A meal prisoners make by mixing foods they can get, for a change from prison meals.
- 29Buying futures in one kind of goods while selling another kind for the same month.
- 30Buying goods at a lower price in one market and selling them for more in another.
- 31How wide a cut gem looks compared to how deep it is.
- 32The widening of ink lines when paper soaks up too much ink.
- 33In debate, to talk very fast to fit in many points.
- 34In debate, very fast talking to get in many points.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
From Old English sprǣdan, meaning 'to spread' or 'expand'.
Checked 5 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Spread derives from Old English sprǣdan, meaning 'to spread' or 'expand'. en.wiktionary.org