splay
verb
\ ˈsplā
\
\
splayed;
splaying;
splays
Definition of splay
(Entry 1 of 3)
splay
nounDefinition of splay (Entry 2 of 3)
splay
adjectiveExamples of splay in a Sentence
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.
Recent Examples on the Web: Verb
Minutes later, Jessica and Alex find this broken and bloody Bryce splayed out on the pier. — Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, "This Is Exactly Who Killed Bryce Walker & Why In 13 Reasons Why Season 3," 24 Aug. 2019 John Hanna, who splays his fandom for Elon Musk’s companies on his Twitter profile, ordered a Model 3 Tuesday evening and drove it home the following afternoon. — Bloomberg, latimes.com, "Elon Musk’s quest for Tesla deliveries record could be a double-edged sword," 30 June 2019 My toes splayed out onto the sand, the ground below me, shifting. — Suzanne Roberts, Longreads, "The Offer of a Two-Night Stand, When Just One Would Do," 15 July 2019 Instead of flowing through the Mississippi River and splaying across the delta, rebuilding Louisiana land lost to storms and erosion, this Wisconsin sand was trapped by a dam and then dug up and tossed into a heap known as Crater Island. — Tristan Baurick, nola.com, "Dredging, dams and other river controls starve places downriver of much-needed sediment," 15 June 2019 The 28-year-old ran out the store and saw a man in a blue shirt splayed on the asphalt of 61st Street, blood pooling around his head. — Alice Yin, chicagotribune.com, "Man, woman in critical condition after shooting in front of 7-Eleven in Chicago Lawn," 1 July 2019 Windblown dunes writhe over its surface; mountains, hills and canyons splay across the landscape. — Shannon Stirone, Scientific American, "New NASA Mission Will Fly Titan’s Frigid Skies to Search for Life’s Beginnings," 27 June 2019 And what Forbice's street view catches can be downright disturbing: One woman, wearing a simple bubble-gum- pink button down, snaps a photo of a woman in a dress splayed out on the sidewalk who is presumably drunk or maybe dead. — Liana Satenstein, Vogue, "How Rihanna’s Footwear Designer Created the Creepiest Lookbook Of The Year," 16 July 2018 So, at this point, the three big floor joists were splayed out into the air. — Ryan D'agostino, Popular Mechanics, "How to Build a Treehouse in the Backyard," 23 Jan. 2019Recent Examples on the Web: Noun
To crown it all: an erupting splay of salad greens, the most flamboyant staging of frisée and red oak lettuce in town. — Los Angeles Times, "Review: At Bon Temps in Downtown L.A., the brilliant desserts are only the beginning," 29 Aug. 2019 Miss’s stakes splay open; Fair casts hers in rubber. — BostonGlobe.com, "An artist’s love letter to feminist forebears," 17 July 2019 Rather than a single cavern with a rectangular opening flap on the top, this hauler unzips around the sides and splays open into two halves, each with a mesh zippered cover. — Ariella Gintzler, Outside Online, "Testing Adventure-Ready Travel Bags from Eagle Creek," 10 May 2018 In a time of postmodern splay, Monk is here to stay. — Giovanni Russonello, New York Times, "At 100, Thelonious Monk Gets a Hero’s Celebration," 30 Oct. 2017 Words in languages current, ancient and legendary splay across its doors, bumpers and hatches, predicting a future in which the people of the world are united. — Danielle Ohl, baltimoresun.com, "Bus trip: A local artist and documentary crew are hunting for a Woodstock icon," 7 July 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'splay.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for splay
splay
verb
English Language Learners Definition of splay
: to move (things, especially your legs, fingers, etc.) out and apart from each other
See the full definition for splay in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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