as in measuring
to find out the size, extent, or amount of
tried to span the distance between the two trees by eye alone
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of spanning
Saudi Arabia announced on Saturday a major investment package in Syria spanning energy, aviation, real estate and telecommunications, as the kingdom positions itself as a leading backer of Syria’s new leadership.
—
Reuters, NBC news, 8 Feb. 2026
The Columbia River Basin, spanning an area roughly the size of Texas, was once the world's greatest salmon-producing river system, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead.
—Arkansas Online, 7 Feb. 2026
From galaxy-spanning Star Wars icons to Broadway favorites, wizarding rivals, and nostalgic cartoon duos, BrickHeadz builds turn favorite pop culture figures into desk- and shelf-worthy decor.
—Brittany Anas, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Feb. 2026
Adam Miller, a tech executive and nonprofit founder, also entered the race this week, pitching himself as an outsider to elective office with experience spanning business, technology and homelessness policy.
—Teresa Liu, Daily News, 7 Feb. 2026
Across six permanent galleries—which appear to float above the lobby in concrete spheres—are 1,500 artifacts spanning 300,000 years of human history.
—John Arlidge, Travel + Leisure, 7 Feb. 2026
The city is arguing that those two dozen or so times, spanning from October 2024 to July 2025, constitute violations of the conditional 2011 arrangement.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 7 Feb. 2026
Two goals in less than 10 minutes spanning halftime flipped the script.
—Colin Cerniglia, Charlotte Observer, 7 Feb. 2026
Rocky peaks rise sharply from the valley floor, spanning elevations and pockets of habitat that can swing from sweltering to snowing in a single day.
—Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 6 Feb. 2026
Reuters, NBC news, 8 Feb. 2026
The Columbia River Basin, spanning an area roughly the size of Texas, was once the world's greatest salmon-producing river system, with at least 16 stocks of salmon and steelhead.
—Arkansas Online, 7 Feb. 2026
From galaxy-spanning Star Wars icons to Broadway favorites, wizarding rivals, and nostalgic cartoon duos, BrickHeadz builds turn favorite pop culture figures into desk- and shelf-worthy decor.
—Brittany Anas, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Feb. 2026
Adam Miller, a tech executive and nonprofit founder, also entered the race this week, pitching himself as an outsider to elective office with experience spanning business, technology and homelessness policy.
—Teresa Liu, Daily News, 7 Feb. 2026
Across six permanent galleries—which appear to float above the lobby in concrete spheres—are 1,500 artifacts spanning 300,000 years of human history.
—John Arlidge, Travel + Leisure, 7 Feb. 2026
The city is arguing that those two dozen or so times, spanning from October 2024 to July 2025, constitute violations of the conditional 2011 arrangement.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 7 Feb. 2026
Two goals in less than 10 minutes spanning halftime flipped the script.
—Colin Cerniglia, Charlotte Observer, 7 Feb. 2026
Rocky peaks rise sharply from the valley floor, spanning elevations and pockets of habitat that can swing from sweltering to snowing in a single day.
—Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 6 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for spanning
Verb
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Recessed within the wall will be a rectangular cavity measuring three feet by seven feet—the outline of a grave.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
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The consultancy has a role in advising, managing, activating and measuring more than $5 billion in client partnerships across sports, entertainment, gaming and corporate social responsibility.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Ryan Wrasse, a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune, confirmed congressional leaders were gauging support early Thursday evening for fast-tracking the agreement through the Senate.—
Phillip M. Bailey,
USA Today,
29 Jan. 2026
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Another similar assumption is that since LLMs are tuned by AI makers to be sycophantic, the AI might computationally be gauging that the best way to make the user feel good is by going along with a delusion-crafting chat.—
Lance Eliot,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Spanning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spanning. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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