"spraddle" meaning in English

See spraddle in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈspɹædl̩/ [General-American, Received-Pronunciation] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav Forms: spraddles [plural]
Rhymes: -ædəl Etymology: Uncertain; possibly from sprad, an obsolete dialectal past participle of spread; or a blend of sprawl + straddle or spread + straddle, or perhaps from Middle English *spraddelen; a frequentative form of Middle English spradden, spraden, sprēden (“to lay flat, spread; to distribute, scatter, sow”), from Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), equivalent to spread + -le. Compare also dialectal Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”). Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*(s)per-}}, {{uncertain|en}} Uncertain, {{glossary|obsolete}} obsolete, {{glossary|dialectal}} dialectal, {{glossary|past}} past, {{glossary|participle}} participle, {{blend|en|sprawl|straddle|nocap=1}} blend of sprawl + straddle, {{blend|en|spread|straddle|nocap=1|notext=1}} spread + straddle, {{inh|en|enm|*spraddelen}} Middle English *spraddelen, {{glossary|frequentative}} frequentative, {{inh|en|enm|spradden}} Middle English spradden, {{inh|en|ang|sprǣdan||to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth}} Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), {{der|en|ine-pro|*(s)per-||to sow, sprinkle, strew}} Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), {{suffix|en|spread|le}} spread + -le, {{noncog|no|spradla||to flail, squirm, thrash about}} Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”) Head templates: {{en-noun}} spraddle (plural spraddles)
  1. A manner of walking with the legs spread out. Translations (manner of walking): haarakäynti (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-spraddle-en-noun-LATe4p~R Categories (other): American English, Canadian English, Caribbean English, English blends, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -le, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Finnish translations Disambiguation of American English: 46 23 18 13 Disambiguation of Canadian English: 53 17 15 15 Disambiguation of Caribbean English: 74 11 8 7 Disambiguation of English blends: 47 19 17 16 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 72 14 10 4 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -le: 56 19 15 11 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 66 13 11 10 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 76 9 8 7 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 78 9 7 6 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 61 17 13 9

Verb

IPA: /ˈspɹædl̩/ [General-American, Received-Pronunciation] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav Forms: spraddles [present, singular, third-person], spraddling [participle, present], spraddled [participle, past], spraddled [past]
Rhymes: -ædəl Etymology: Uncertain; possibly from sprad, an obsolete dialectal past participle of spread; or a blend of sprawl + straddle or spread + straddle, or perhaps from Middle English *spraddelen; a frequentative form of Middle English spradden, spraden, sprēden (“to lay flat, spread; to distribute, scatter, sow”), from Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), equivalent to spread + -le. Compare also dialectal Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”). Etymology templates: {{root|en|ine-pro|*(s)per-}}, {{uncertain|en}} Uncertain, {{glossary|obsolete}} obsolete, {{glossary|dialectal}} dialectal, {{glossary|past}} past, {{glossary|participle}} participle, {{blend|en|sprawl|straddle|nocap=1}} blend of sprawl + straddle, {{blend|en|spread|straddle|nocap=1|notext=1}} spread + straddle, {{inh|en|enm|*spraddelen}} Middle English *spraddelen, {{glossary|frequentative}} frequentative, {{inh|en|enm|spradden}} Middle English spradden, {{inh|en|ang|sprǣdan||to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth}} Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), {{der|en|ine-pro|*(s)per-||to sow, sprinkle, strew}} Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), {{suffix|en|spread|le}} spread + -le, {{noncog|no|spradla||to flail, squirm, thrash about}} Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”) Head templates: {{en-verb}} spraddle (third-person singular simple present spraddles, present participle spraddling, simple past and past participle spraddled), {{tlb|en|Canada|Caribbean|_|(West Indies)|US}} (Canada, Caribbean (West Indies), US)
  1. (transitive) To spread apart (the legs). Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-spraddle-en-verb-yDAfz7y1
  2. (transitive) To spread apart the legs of (someone or something). Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-spraddle-en-verb-eNBb9w7d
  3. (intransitive) To lie, move, or stand with legs spread. Tags: intransitive
    Sense id: en-spraddle-en-verb-c8tygG3x
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: spraddlelegged, spraddle-legged

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "spraddlelegged"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "spraddle-legged"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)per-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "uncertain"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "obsolete"
      },
      "expansion": "obsolete",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dialectal"
      },
      "expansion": "dialectal",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "past"
      },
      "expansion": "past",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "participle"
      },
      "expansion": "participle",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sprawl",
        "3": "straddle",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "blend of sprawl + straddle",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spread",
        "3": "straddle",
        "nocap": "1",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "spread + straddle",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "*spraddelen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English *spraddelen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "frequentative"
      },
      "expansion": "frequentative",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "spradden"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English spradden",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "sprǣdan",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)per-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to sow, sprinkle, strew"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spread",
        "3": "le"
      },
      "expansion": "spread + -le",
      "name": "suffix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "spradla",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to flail, squirm, thrash about"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain; possibly from sprad, an obsolete dialectal past participle of spread; or a blend of sprawl + straddle or spread + straddle, or perhaps from Middle English *spraddelen; a frequentative form of Middle English spradden, spraden, sprēden (“to lay flat, spread; to distribute, scatter, sow”), from Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), equivalent to spread + -le. Compare also dialectal Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spraddles",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spraddling",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spraddled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spraddled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spraddle (third-person singular simple present spraddles, present participle spraddling, simple past and past participle spraddled)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Canada",
        "3": "Caribbean",
        "4": "_",
        "5": "(West Indies)",
        "6": "US"
      },
      "expansion": "(Canada, Caribbean (West Indies), US)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "sprad‧dle"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              431,
              440
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1988, David Quammen, “Faces Unlike Ours”, in The Flight of the Iguana: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN; Scribner trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, 2004, →ISBN, page 46:",
          "text": "[T]hey [scorpions] rely on pressure-sensing organs near the ends of each of their eight walking legs to detect subtle shock waves that propagate outwards, even through sand, when another creature passes by on the desert floor. According to [Philip H.] Brownell, the scorpion orients itself toward the focus of any such disturbance by gauging the minuscule differences in the times at which the shock wave reaches each of its eight spraddled legs.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To spread apart (the legs)."
      ],
      "id": "en-spraddle-en-verb-yDAfz7y1",
      "links": [
        [
          "spread",
          "spread#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "legs",
          "leg#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To spread apart (the legs)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              100,
              109
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1976, Forrest Carter [pseudonym; Asa Earl Carter], “A Dangerous Adventure”, in The Education of Little Tree, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN; paperback edition, Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, 2004, →ISBN, page 112:",
          "text": "She brought the quail back, and while it was still alive, she split it from breastbone to tail, and spraddled it, kicking, over Granpa's snake bite. She held the kicking quail on Granpa's hand for a long time, and when she took it off, the quail had turned green all over its inside.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To spread apart the legs of (someone or something)."
      ],
      "id": "en-spraddle-en-verb-eNBb9w7d",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To spread apart the legs of (someone or something)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              52
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1898 November, Stephen Crane, “His New Mittens”, in The Cornhill Magazine, volume V, number 29 (New Series), London: Smith, Elder & Co., 15 Waterloo Place, →OCLC, chapter II, page 634:",
          "text": "Horace slunk into the kitchen. The stove, spraddling out on its four iron legs, was gently humming. Aunt Martha had evidently just lighted the lamp, for she went to it and began to twist the wick experimentally.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              2,
              11
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1911 June, Jack London, “The First Landfall”, in The Cruise of the Snark, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 69:",
          "text": "I spraddled along the wharf and nearly fell into the water. I glanced at Charmian, and the way she walked made me sad. The wharf had all the seeming of a ship's deck. It lifted, tilted, heaved and sank; and since there were no handrails on it, it kept Charmian and me busy avoiding falling in.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              64,
              73
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1917, T[homas] S[igismund] Stribling, “The Dry Dock”, in The Cruise of the Dry Dock, Chicago, Ill.: The Reilly & Britton Co., →OCLC, pages 20–21:",
          "text": "This soothed the irascible fellow somewhat. Still glowering, he spraddled out of the cabin with the boys after him, and presently indicated one of the small temporary cabins with a jerk of his thumb.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              180,
              188
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1935 December, Robert E[rvin] Howard, “The Apache Mountain War”, in Action Stories, New York, N.Y.: Fiction House, →OCLC; republished as The Second Western Megapack: 25 Classic Western Stories, [Rockville, Md.]: Wildside Press, 2013, →ISBN, page 419:",
          "text": "\"He wouldn't if he knowed what I knowed,\" I opined, because I'd thought up a way to git Cousin Buckner out of the way that night. \"He'd be headin' for Wolf Canyon fast as he could spraddle. I just met Harry Braxton with a pack-mule headin' for there.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              56,
              65
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2009 February, Eric Hagerman, “Wingman”, in Mark Jannot, editor, Popular Science, volume 274, number 2, Bonnier Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 38, column 2:",
          "text": "The Jet Man [Yves Rossy], under the weight of his wing, spraddles out on all fours in a poof of dust and straw.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To lie, move, or stand with legs spread."
      ],
      "id": "en-spraddle-en-verb-c8tygG3x",
      "links": [
        [
          "lie",
          "lie#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "move",
          "move#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "stand",
          "stand#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "spread",
          "spread#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To lie, move, or stand with legs spread."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspɹædl̩/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ædəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "spraddle"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)per-"
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      "expansion": "",
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      "args": {
        "1": "en"
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      "expansion": "Uncertain",
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        "1": "obsolete"
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        "1": "dialectal"
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "sprawl",
        "3": "straddle",
        "nocap": "1"
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      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "spread",
        "3": "straddle",
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    {
      "args": {
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        "2": "enm",
        "3": "*spraddelen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English *spraddelen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "frequentative"
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      "expansion": "frequentative",
      "name": "glossary"
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    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "spradden"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English spradden",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "sprǣdan",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)per-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to sow, sprinkle, strew"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spread",
        "3": "le"
      },
      "expansion": "spread + -le",
      "name": "suffix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "spradla",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to flail, squirm, thrash about"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain; possibly from sprad, an obsolete dialectal past participle of spread; or a blend of sprawl + straddle or spread + straddle, or perhaps from Middle English *spraddelen; a frequentative form of Middle English spradden, spraden, sprēden (“to lay flat, spread; to distribute, scatter, sow”), from Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), equivalent to spread + -le. Compare also dialectal Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spraddles",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spraddle (plural spraddles)",
      "name": "en-noun"
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  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "sprad‧dle"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "46 23 18 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "53 17 15 15",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "74 11 8 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Caribbean English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "47 19 17 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English blends",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "72 14 10 4",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
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        {
          "_dis": "56 19 15 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English terms suffixed with -le",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "66 13 11 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "76 9 8 7",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
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        {
          "_dis": "78 9 7 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "61 17 13 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A manner of walking with the legs spread out."
      ],
      "id": "en-spraddle-en-noun-LATe4p~R",
      "links": [
        [
          "walking",
          "walk#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "legs",
          "leg#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "spread",
          "spread#Verb"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "manner of walking",
          "word": "haarakäynti"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspɹædl̩/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ædəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "spraddle"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "American English",
    "Canadian English",
    "Caribbean English",
    "English blends",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)per-",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms suffixed with -le",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ædəl",
    "Rhymes:English/ædəl/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Finnish translations"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "spraddlelegged"
    },
    {
      "word": "spraddle-legged"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)per-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "uncertain"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "obsolete"
      },
      "expansion": "obsolete",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dialectal"
      },
      "expansion": "dialectal",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "past"
      },
      "expansion": "past",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "participle"
      },
      "expansion": "participle",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sprawl",
        "3": "straddle",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "blend of sprawl + straddle",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spread",
        "3": "straddle",
        "nocap": "1",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "spread + straddle",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "*spraddelen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English *spraddelen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "frequentative"
      },
      "expansion": "frequentative",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "spradden"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English spradden",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "sprǣdan",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)per-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to sow, sprinkle, strew"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spread",
        "3": "le"
      },
      "expansion": "spread + -le",
      "name": "suffix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "spradla",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to flail, squirm, thrash about"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain; possibly from sprad, an obsolete dialectal past participle of spread; or a blend of sprawl + straddle or spread + straddle, or perhaps from Middle English *spraddelen; a frequentative form of Middle English spradden, spraden, sprēden (“to lay flat, spread; to distribute, scatter, sow”), from Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), equivalent to spread + -le. Compare also dialectal Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spraddles",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spraddling",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spraddled",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "spraddled",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spraddle (third-person singular simple present spraddles, present participle spraddling, simple past and past participle spraddled)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "Canada",
        "3": "Caribbean",
        "4": "_",
        "5": "(West Indies)",
        "6": "US"
      },
      "expansion": "(Canada, Caribbean (West Indies), US)",
      "name": "tlb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "sprad‧dle"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              431,
              440
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1988, David Quammen, “Faces Unlike Ours”, in The Flight of the Iguana: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN; Scribner trade paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Scribner, 2004, →ISBN, page 46:",
          "text": "[T]hey [scorpions] rely on pressure-sensing organs near the ends of each of their eight walking legs to detect subtle shock waves that propagate outwards, even through sand, when another creature passes by on the desert floor. According to [Philip H.] Brownell, the scorpion orients itself toward the focus of any such disturbance by gauging the minuscule differences in the times at which the shock wave reaches each of its eight spraddled legs.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To spread apart (the legs)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "spread",
          "spread#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "legs",
          "leg#Noun"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To spread apart (the legs)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              100,
              109
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1976, Forrest Carter [pseudonym; Asa Earl Carter], “A Dangerous Adventure”, in The Education of Little Tree, New York, N.Y.: Delacorte Press, →ISBN; paperback edition, Albuquerque, N.M.: University of New Mexico Press, 2004, →ISBN, page 112:",
          "text": "She brought the quail back, and while it was still alive, she split it from breastbone to tail, and spraddled it, kicking, over Granpa's snake bite. She held the kicking quail on Granpa's hand for a long time, and when she took it off, the quail had turned green all over its inside.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To spread apart the legs of (someone or something)."
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To spread apart the legs of (someone or something)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English intransitive verbs",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              42,
              52
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1898 November, Stephen Crane, “His New Mittens”, in The Cornhill Magazine, volume V, number 29 (New Series), London: Smith, Elder & Co., 15 Waterloo Place, →OCLC, chapter II, page 634:",
          "text": "Horace slunk into the kitchen. The stove, spraddling out on its four iron legs, was gently humming. Aunt Martha had evidently just lighted the lamp, for she went to it and began to twist the wick experimentally.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              2,
              11
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1911 June, Jack London, “The First Landfall”, in The Cruise of the Snark, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 69:",
          "text": "I spraddled along the wharf and nearly fell into the water. I glanced at Charmian, and the way she walked made me sad. The wharf had all the seeming of a ship's deck. It lifted, tilted, heaved and sank; and since there were no handrails on it, it kept Charmian and me busy avoiding falling in.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              64,
              73
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1917, T[homas] S[igismund] Stribling, “The Dry Dock”, in The Cruise of the Dry Dock, Chicago, Ill.: The Reilly & Britton Co., →OCLC, pages 20–21:",
          "text": "This soothed the irascible fellow somewhat. Still glowering, he spraddled out of the cabin with the boys after him, and presently indicated one of the small temporary cabins with a jerk of his thumb.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              180,
              188
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1935 December, Robert E[rvin] Howard, “The Apache Mountain War”, in Action Stories, New York, N.Y.: Fiction House, →OCLC; republished as The Second Western Megapack: 25 Classic Western Stories, [Rockville, Md.]: Wildside Press, 2013, →ISBN, page 419:",
          "text": "\"He wouldn't if he knowed what I knowed,\" I opined, because I'd thought up a way to git Cousin Buckner out of the way that night. \"He'd be headin' for Wolf Canyon fast as he could spraddle. I just met Harry Braxton with a pack-mule headin' for there.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              56,
              65
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2009 February, Eric Hagerman, “Wingman”, in Mark Jannot, editor, Popular Science, volume 274, number 2, Bonnier Corporation, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 38, column 2:",
          "text": "The Jet Man [Yves Rossy], under the weight of his wing, spraddles out on all fours in a poof of dust and straw.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To lie, move, or stand with legs spread."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "lie",
          "lie#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "move",
          "move#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "stand",
          "stand#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "spread",
          "spread#Adjective"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(intransitive) To lie, move, or stand with legs spread."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "intransitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspɹædl̩/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ædəl"
    }
  ],
  "word": "spraddle"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "American English",
    "Canadian English",
    "Caribbean English",
    "English blends",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)per-",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms suffixed with -le",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ædəl",
    "Rhymes:English/ædəl/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Finnish translations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)per-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Uncertain",
      "name": "uncertain"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "obsolete"
      },
      "expansion": "obsolete",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "dialectal"
      },
      "expansion": "dialectal",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "past"
      },
      "expansion": "past",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "participle"
      },
      "expansion": "participle",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sprawl",
        "3": "straddle",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "blend of sprawl + straddle",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spread",
        "3": "straddle",
        "nocap": "1",
        "notext": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "spread + straddle",
      "name": "blend"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "*spraddelen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English *spraddelen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "frequentative"
      },
      "expansion": "frequentative",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "spradden"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English spradden",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "sprǣdan",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”)",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*(s)per-",
        "4": "",
        "5": "to sow, sprinkle, strew"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "spread",
        "3": "le"
      },
      "expansion": "spread + -le",
      "name": "suffix"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "no",
        "2": "spradla",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to flail, squirm, thrash about"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”)",
      "name": "noncog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Uncertain; possibly from sprad, an obsolete dialectal past participle of spread; or a blend of sprawl + straddle or spread + straddle, or perhaps from Middle English *spraddelen; a frequentative form of Middle English spradden, spraden, sprēden (“to lay flat, spread; to distribute, scatter, sow”), from Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), equivalent to spread + -le. Compare also dialectal Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "spraddles",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "spraddle (plural spraddles)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "sprad‧dle"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A manner of walking with the legs spread out."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "walking",
          "walk#Verb"
        ],
        [
          "legs",
          "leg#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "spread",
          "spread#Verb"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈspɹædl̩/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American",
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/8/8a/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-spraddle.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ædəl"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "manner of walking",
      "word": "haarakäynti"
    }
  ],
  "word": "spraddle"
}

Download raw JSONL data for spraddle meaning in English (12.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-04-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-04-03 using wiktextract (aeaf2a1 and fb63907). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.