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.
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Verb
In the back storeroom of the Olivera Egg Ranch in San Jose, Ed Olivera Jr., 76, gazed at miniature sepia and grey-tone photographs in an album splayed open on a long steel table.—Jia H. Jung, The Mercury News, 22 Feb. 2025 The clip starts with Perfume Genius’ Mike Hadreas splayed out on an ice rink as several onlookers check on him.—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 19 Feb. 2025
Noun
The wide toe box for foot splay and limited structure allows the foot to naturally strengthen.—Tim Newcomb, Forbes, 6 Mar. 2025 Her legs splay, tilt and leap readily into pratfall action.—Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 16 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for splay
Word History
Etymology
Verb
Middle English splaien "to unfurl, spread out, spread-eagle, split (a fish) lengthwise and lay open," aphetic form of displaien "to unfurl (a banner), spread (the arms), display entry 1"
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