as in to spread
to cause to move outward and apart
He sat with his legs splayed apart. She splayed her fingers to show off her manicure.
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Recent Examples of splay
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
The American walked up to the green amid applause for the rare feat the world had just witnessed, bending down to pick his ball up from the cup, and gave his caddy a fist bump with a smile splayed across his face.
—Julia Andersen, CNN Money, 13 June 2025
Joan Jett’s fierceness has been splayed across stages for 50 years, first with the all-girl glam-punk pioneers The Runaways and then through her own 40-plus years of solo stardom with her band, the Blackhearts.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 13 June 2025
Diaz often shows us the aftermath of battles, where dozens of bodies are artfully splayed on the ground, instead of the battles themselves.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for splay
Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 25 June 2025
The American walked up to the green amid applause for the rare feat the world had just witnessed, bending down to pick his ball up from the cup, and gave his caddy a fist bump with a smile splayed across his face.
—Julia Andersen, CNN Money, 13 June 2025
Joan Jett’s fierceness has been splayed across stages for 50 years, first with the all-girl glam-punk pioneers The Runaways and then through her own 40-plus years of solo stardom with her band, the Blackhearts.
—Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 13 June 2025
Diaz often shows us the aftermath of battles, where dozens of bodies are artfully splayed on the ground, instead of the battles themselves.
—Jordan Mintzer, HollywoodReporter, 24 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for splay
Recent Examples of Synonyms for splay
Verb
-
Summer storms move more slowly than in other seasons, leaving rain to pile up in the same place instead of spreading across a wider surface area.—
Mary Whitfill Roeloffs,
Forbes.com,
31 July 2025
-
The Pan American Health Organization issued an epidemic warning as the worst yellow fever outbreak in decades spread across South America.—
Jeronimo Gonzalez,
semafor.com,
31 July 2025
Verb
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The experts split into teams representing the U.S. and China, and each side was armed with the weapons that its country is thought to possess.—
Dexter Filkins,
New Yorker,
14 July 2025
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If their parents died, the sisters would split their inheritance.—
Rosalio Ahumada,
Sacbee.com,
14 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Splay.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/splay. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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