Spread-eagle
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Part of speech adjective
Quick meaning: Spread-eagle is an adjective meaning Lying with arms and legs outstretched and separated.
Meaning
Lying with arms and legs outstretched and separated.
More Meanings
- (transitive) To put into a spread-eagle position, with arms and legs extended and spread.
- (intransitive) To put one's body in a spread eagle.
- (dated, US) Characterized by a pretentious, boastful, exaggerated style; bombastic.
Example Sentences
But Mr. Lloyd is not a spread-eagle patriot, or much given to political partisanship.
The firm did a large and lucrative business from the start, the orders from spread-eagle orators often taxing the full capacity of its works.
Our former townsman, Mr. G. F. Train, has recently made a tremendous spread-eagle speech in England, upon the occasion of the reopening of trade between Liverpool and New Zealand […]
Word Forms
- spread-eagles
- spread-eagling
- spread-eagled
Synonyms for spread-eagle
Depending on context, synonyms include rout, extended, spreadeagle.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include rout, extended, spreadeagle, outspread, displayed, expansed.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.