Meanings
present singular third person spreads out · participle present spreading out
- idiomatictransitiveTo place items further apart.
Spread the cards out and then turn two of them over at random.
comparative more spread out · superlative most spread out
- Far apart, not close to each other, extended over an expanse of space or time.
In other words, space is very empty, and particles are very spread out.
2000, Ray Kurzweil, The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence, →ISBN2 more examples
It is extremely time-consuming to use public transportation and the restaurants and dining are very spread out.
2007, Carolyn C. Wise, Stephanie Hauser, The Business School Buzz Book, →ISBN, page 90The plague is spread person to person, so if the people are very spread out, fewer of them will come in contact with those afflected by the plague.
2014, William W. Johnstone, Warriors from the Ashes, →ISBNSynonyms: spaced out, thin, diffuse, dispersed, incompact, loose, noncompact, scattered
- Covering a wide area of space or long period of time.
As a result, U.S. cities have become very spread out and cover a great deal of land.
2007, Yukio Noguchi, James M. Poterba, Housing Markets in the United States and Japan, →ISBN, page 1333 more examples
The park is very spread out, with two core areas approximately 1.5 km apart, and the trailer dump station almost 2 km away near the park entrance.
2006, Michael Clancy, Anna Clancy, A User's Guide to Saskatchewan Parks, →ISBN, page 69The t distribution tends to be flatter and more spread out, whereas the normal z distribution has more of a central peak.
2009, Frederick J. Gravetter, Larry B. Wallnau, Statistics for the Behavioral Sciences, →ISBN, page 285If you live in or around Houston you cannot survive without wheels. The city is very spread out and continues to sprawl outward and consume more and more real estate.
2011, Cat Schmidt, Peripheral Vision, →ISBN, page 1Synonyms: widespread
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveFar apart, not close to each other, extended over an expanse of space or time.
adjectiveCovering a wide area of space or long period of time.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Analytic form of earlier outspread.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πετάννυμι
- πετάννυμι (petánnumi)open out, especially over a flat surface, as something rolled or folded
Arabic تَفَرَّقَ, فَرَّقَ
- تَفَرَّقَ (tafarraqa)to become further apart
- فَرَّقَ (farraqa)to place items further apart
- مُنْتَشِر (muntašir)far apart
- مُتَفَرِّق (mutafarriq)far apart
Catalan dispers
- dispersfar apart
Finnish levitä, levittäytyä
- levitäto become further apart
- levittäytyäto become further apart
- levittääto place items further apart
Māori tūrara, tūhāngai
- tūrarato place items further apart
- tūhāngaito place items further apart
- whakahorato place items further apart
- takapauopen out, especially over a flat surface, as something rolled or folded
- pāpuafar apart
- tīrarafar apart
- toiroafar apart
Portuguese espalhar-se, espalhar
- espalhar-seto become further apart
- espalharto place items further apart
Russian расправленный
- расправленный (raspravlennyj)far apart
Cite this entry
spread out. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spread%20out
“spread out.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spread%20out. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “spread out,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/spread%20out.
Source: spread out on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.