The meaning of Spread

verb

Move forwards in a purposeful way.

Usage examples:

He advanced towards the dispatch box

noun

A forward movement.

Usage examples:

The rebels' advance on madrid was well under way

adjective

Done, sent, or supplied beforehand.

Usage examples:

Advance notice

noun

The process of promoting a cause or plan.

Usage examples:

Their lives were devoted to the advancement of science

noun

An improvement relating to a particular activity or area of knowledge

Usage examples:

The president's speech to the conference centered on the advancement of alternative fuel sources as…

noun

A native or inhabitant of afghanistan, or a person of afghan descent.

Usage examples:

Then they said they would stay back and try to help the afghans effect national reconciliation.

adjective

Another term for pashto.

adjective

Belonging to or relating to afghanistan or its people

verb

Make a formal application or request.

Usage examples:

You need to apply to the local authority for a grant

noun

An elaborate and formal meal for many people.

Usage examples:

A state banquet at buckingham palace

verb

Entertain with a banquet.

Usage examples:

Ambassadors were fabulously banqueted and loaded with gifts

noun

A bedspread.

Usage examples:

Ellie had hung a few pictures on the walls, brought a bright new bedcover and the room looked more …

noun

A decorative cloth used to cover a bed when it is not in use.

Usage examples:

Use red or green coloured pillow covers and bedspreads in the bedroom.

noun

A cover put on a bed over the sheets and blankets (= covers to keep you warm)

noun

An occasion when a tyre on a vehicle bursts or an electric fuse melts.

Usage examples:

You never know when you are going to suffer a tyre blowout or when another driver is just going to …

noun

A sudden bursting and release of air from a tire on a moving vehicle

Usage examples:

He narrowly averted crashing into another car after the blowout., if the game is a blowout, fans st…

noun

A short period of time during which shares are sold for a high price

Usage examples:

Blowout in sth while there was a blowout in hi-tech shares in the us overnight, internet shares in …

verb

Become larger in distance from side to side; widen.

Usage examples:

Her smile broadened

verb

To become wider, or to cause something to be wider

Usage examples:

[ t ] they are broadening the road to speed up the flow of traffic., going to college will broaden …

verb

To increase the range of something

Usage examples:

New rules should help credit unions expand their activities and broaden access to cheaper borrowing…

noun

A person or thing that provides consolation.

Usage examples:

He is friend, comforter, and guardian

noun

A bedspread.

Usage examples:

We talk in his room with its single bed, bumpily spread with a candlewick counterpane in a cosy sha…

noun

A bedspread

verb

Put something on top of or in front of (something), especially in order to protect or conceal it.

Usage examples:

The table had been covered with a checked tablecloth

noun

A thing which lies on, over, or around something, especially in order to protect or conceal it.

Usage examples:

A seat cover

verb

To put or spread something over something, or to lie on the surface of something

Usage examples:

Once the rice comes to a boil, turn down the flame and cover the pot., she covered the child with a…

noun

A bedspread.

Usage examples:

All hospitals have got sheets and coverlets.

noun

A bedspread

verb

Carelessly coat or smear (a surface) with a thick or sticky substance.

Usage examples:

The walls were daubed with splashes of paint

noun

A patch or smear of a thick or sticky substance.

Usage examples:

A daub of paint

verb

Grow or cause to grow and become more mature, advanced, or elaborate.

Usage examples:

Motion pictures were to develop into mass entertainment

verb

Progress or evolve through a process of natural growth

verb

To grow or cause to grow or change into a more advanced form

Usage examples:

[ t ] this exercise will help develop the shoulder and back muscles (= it will make them stronger).…

noun

The process of developing or being developed.

Usage examples:

She traces the development of the novel

noun

The process of growing or changing and becoming more advanced

Usage examples:

[ u ] a good diet and lots of exercise are essential for a child’s healthy growth and development.,…

noun

Growth or changes that make something become more advanced

Usage examples:

The first year of the plan is primarily focused on organizational development., he was recruited to…

noun

The spreading of something more widely.

Usage examples:

The rapid diffusion of ideas and technology

noun

(of gases and liquids) the process of spreading into a surrounding substance

noun

The process by which information, ideas, changes in behaviour, etc. spread through a group of people

Usage examples:

The research looks at factors influencing the diffusion of innovative products in consumer markets.

noun

The action or fact of spreading something, especially information, widely.

Usage examples:

The dissemination of public information

noun

The act of spreading news, information, ideas, etc. to a lot of people

Usage examples:

The dissemination of information, anything that stands in the way of the dissemination of knowledge…

noun

A quilt filled with down (originally from the eider) or some other soft material.

Usage examples:

She lay in the middle of the big bed, her slender figure - now thinned by her illness - seeming los…

verb

Increase rapidly.

Usage examples:

The price of tickets escalated

verb

To make or become greater or more serious

Usage examples:

[ t ] sending in more troops would escalate the war., [ i ] our costs escalated considerably over t…

verb

To become more important or serious, or to make something do this

Usage examples:

A problem/crisis/dispute escalates mediation can be used to settle disputes at an early stage and s…

noun

A rapid increase; a rise.

Usage examples:

Cost escalations

noun

The process of becoming greater or more serious, or a particular situation when this happens

Usage examples:

[ u ] the escalation of costs, [ c ] military escalation

verb

Become or make larger or more extensive.

Usage examples:

Their business expanded into other hotels

verb

Extend in one or more directions

verb

To increase something in size, number, or importance

Usage examples:

[ i ] the air in the balloon expands when heated., [ t ] they expanded their number of stores signi…

noun

The action of becoming larger or more extensive.

Usage examples:

The rapid expansion of suburban london

noun

An increase in the size, number, or importance of something

Usage examples:

A rapid/major/massive expansion the rapid expansion of the software industry, the planned/possible …

verb

Cause to cover a wider area; make larger.

Usage examples:

The car park has been extended

verb

Stretch out over a distance, space, time, or scope

verb

To reach, continue, or stretch

Usage examples:

[ i ] farmland extends for miles in every direction., [ i ] the meeting extended into the late hour…

noun

A part that is added to something to enlarge or prolong it.

Usage examples:

The railway's southern extension

noun

Any of two or more telephones in the same house that share the same number

Usage examples:

We have an extension in our bedroom., a contract extension, i applied for an extension to my visa.,…

noun

An increase in the period of time during which something is effective

Usage examples:

Grant/offer/receive an extension when it failed to meet the deadline, the company was granted an ex…

noun

The area covered by something.

Usage examples:

An enclosure ten acres in extent

noun

The area, length, or size of something

Usage examples:

Approaching the airport, you could see the full extent of the island., to some extent it was my fau…

noun

A large meal, typically a celebratory one.

Usage examples:

A wedding feast

verb

Eat and drink sumptuously.

Usage examples:

The men would congregate and feast after hunting

verb

(of a living thing) undergo natural development by increasing in size and changing physically.

Usage examples:

He would watch nick grow to manhood

verb

Increase in size by natural process

noun

The process of increasing in size.

Usage examples:

The upward growth of plants

noun

The process of developing or of increasing in size

Usage examples:

[ u ] plant growth is most noticeable in spring., [ u ] his budget is designed to promote economic …

noun

An increase in the ability of an economy or business to produce goods and services

Usage examples:

The growth of the indian economy, we have had three successive years of economic growth., growth ra…

verb

Become or make greater in size, amount, or degree.

Usage examples:

Car use is increasing at an alarming rate

noun

A rise in the size, amount, or degree of something.

Usage examples:

An increase of 28.3 per cent

verb

A process of becoming larger or longer or more numerous

noun

A frothy white mass of bubbles produced by soap, washing powder, etc. when mixed with water.

Usage examples:

She rinsed off the lather and dried her hands

verb

Form or cause to form a lather.

Usage examples:

Soap will not lather in hard water

noun

A mass of small white bubbles produced esp. when soap is mixed with water

Usage examples:

[ i ] i lathered and shaved quickly.

verb

(of a cancer) spread to other sites in the body by metastasis.

Usage examples:

His cancer had metastasized to the liver

verb

If cancer cells metastasize, they spread to other parts of the body and cause tumours to grow there.

noun

A fungal growth that typically takes the form of a domed cap on a stalk, with gills on the underside of the cap.

Usage examples:

She sautéd the mushrooms in butter

verb

Increase, spread, or develop rapidly.

Usage examples:

Environmental concern mushroomed in the 1960s

noun

Any one of many types of fast-growing fungus (= plants without leaves or flowers) with a round top and short stem, many of which are used as food

Usage examples:

Wild mushrooms, mushroom soup, a pizza with mushrooms, if your business were to mushroom, would you…

adjective

Rapidly growing, expanding, or developing.

Usage examples:

He has attacked what he describes as the culture of waste and mushrooming costs

noun

Very rapid growth, expansion, or development.

Usage examples:

Our main concern is the mushrooming of unregulated hand car wash businesses

verb

Increase, spread, or develop rapidly.

Usage examples:

Environmental concern mushroomed in the 1960s

noun

Food.

Usage examples:

Filling the freezer with all kinds of nosh

verb

Eat food enthusiastically or greedily.

Usage examples:

You can nosh to your heart's content

adjective

Fully extended or expanded.

Usage examples:

Outspread hands

verb

Spread out.

Usage examples:

That eagle outspreading his wings for flight

adjective

Spread as far as possible

Usage examples:

A bronze statue of an angel with outspread wings

noun

A soft mixture of sand and cement and sometimes lime with water, for spreading on walls, ceilings, or other structures, to form a smooth hard surface when dried.

Usage examples:

Strip away the plaster to expose the bare brick

verb

Cover (a wall, ceiling, or other structure) with plaster.

Usage examples:

The inside walls were plastered and painted

verb

Increase rapidly in number; multiply.

Usage examples:

The science fiction magazines which proliferated in the 1920s

verb

To increase greatly in number or amount, usually quickly

Usage examples:

Amusement and theme parks are proliferating across the country., the proliferation of cell phones h…

noun

Rapid increase in the number or amount of something.

Usage examples:

A continuing threat of nuclear proliferation

noun

The breeding of specimens of a plant or animal by natural processes from the parent stock.

Usage examples:

The propagation of plants by root cuttings

noun

The act of producing a new plant from a parent plant

Usage examples:

Students researched the propagation of plants at the city's botanical garden., we saw a demonstrati…

verb

Move to or place in a particular position.

Usage examples:

I put my hand out towards her

noun

A throw of a shot or weight.

Usage examples:

Nichols recorded a put of 61.05 on his third attempt.

Cause to be in a certain state

noun

The area of variation between upper and lower limits on a particular scale.

Usage examples:

The cost will be in the range of $1–5 million a day

verb

Vary or extend between specified limits.

Usage examples:

Prices range from £30 to £100

adjective

(of a person or their lifestyle) orderly; settled.

Usage examples:

It's possible to be too rangé

verb

Stretch out an arm in a specified direction in order to touch or grasp something.

Usage examples:

He reached over and turned off his bedside light

noun

An act of reaching out with one's arm.

Usage examples:

She made a reach for him

noun

A meal.

Usage examples:

A sumptuous repast

noun

A meal

Usage examples:

Yet that simple repast was fit for a king.

idiom

Straighten by unrolling

phrasal verb

Officially launch or introduce a new product or service.

Usage examples:

The firm rolled out its newest generation of supercomputers

phrasal verb

To make something smooth and flat, by pushing a cylindrical object or tool over it

Usage examples:

Roll out the cookie dough between two sheets of wax paper., the company has rolled out new services…

verb

Apply firm pressure to the surface of (something), using a repeated back and forth motion.

Usage examples:

She rubbed her arm, where she had a large bruise

noun

An act of rubbing.

Usage examples:

She pulled out a towel and gave her head a quick rub

abbreviation

Russian rouble(s).

verb

Spread or smear (a substance) thickly or liberally.

Usage examples:

Slather on some tanning lotion

noun

A large amount.

Usage examples:

We had it for tea, toasted for breakfast, and as a foundation for fruit desserts, with fresh or poa…

verb

Coat or mark (something) messily or carelessly with a greasy or sticky substance.

Usage examples:

His face was smeared with dirt

noun

A mark or streak of a greasy or sticky substance.

Usage examples:

There was an oil smear on his jacket

verb

Smudge or soil by smudging

adjective

Having an even and regular surface; free from perceptible projections, lumps, or indentations.

Usage examples:

Smooth flat rocks

verb

Give (something) a flat, regular surface or appearance.

Usage examples:

She smoothed out the newspaper

adverb

In a way that is without difficulties.

Usage examples:

The course of true love never did run smooth

noun

The full extent of something from end to end; the amount of space that something covers.

Usage examples:

A warehouse with a clear span of 28 feet

verb

(of a bridge, arch, etc.) extend from side to side of.

Usage examples:

The stream was spanned by a narrow bridge

verb

Yoke (an animal).

Usage examples:

He spanned his donkeys to the cart

noun

A band of colours, as seen in a rainbow, produced by separation of the components of light by their different degrees of refraction according to wavelength.

Usage examples:

If viewed through a prism, however, there is a decomposition of the light into the colors of the sp…

noun

A range of objects, ideas, or opinions

Usage examples:

There’s agreement across the political spectrum., a wide spectrum of opinion was represented at the…

noun

A range of similar things

Usage examples:

A spectrum of sth a methodology will have to be developed to gradually cover the entire spectrum of…

verb

(of something soft or elastic) be made or be capable of being made longer or wider without tearing or breaking.

Usage examples:

My jumper stretched in the wash

noun

An act of stretching one's limbs or body.

Usage examples:

I got up and had a stretch

verb

To reach across a distance or become longer or wider, or to cause something to do this

Usage examples:

[ i ] rubber stretches when you pull it., [ t ] the banner was stretched across the street., [ m ] …

verb

Clean (an area) by brushing away dirt or litter.

Usage examples:

I've swept the floor

noun

An act of sweeping something with a brush.

Usage examples:

I was giving the floor a quick sweep

verb

Propel (something) with force through the air by a movement of the arm and hand.

Usage examples:

I threw a brick through the window

noun

An act of throwing something.

Usage examples:

Holding's throw hit the stumps

verb

Propel through the air

noun

The action or process of transmitting something, or the state of being transmitted.

Usage examples:

The transmission of the virus

noun

The act of sending or giving something

Usage examples:

[ u ] you can stop the transmission of some diseases by washing your hands often.

noun

The process of sending something, for example gas or electricity, from one place to another

Usage examples:

Large investments are currently required: perhaps $500m a year in electricity generation, and a sim…

verb

Make or become spread out from a rolled or folded state, especially in order to be open to the wind.

Usage examples:

A man was unfurling a sail

verb

Open or cause to open out from a rolled-up state.

Usage examples:

The blanket unrolled as he tugged it

verb

To open and become flat from a rolled position, or to cause something to do this

Usage examples:

[ t ] she unrolled a bolt of silk for us to look at.

noun

The quality or state of being different or diverse; the absence of uniformity or monotony.

Usage examples:

It's the variety that makes my job so enjoyable

noun

The characteristic of frequently changing, or of including many different types or things

Usage examples:

The markets offer a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables., you can get magazines there that have …

noun

One particular type of a thing

Usage examples:

We need to create new varieties of drought-resistant coffee., we select apple varieties with a long…

verb

Make or become wider.

Usage examples:

We should widen the scope of our investigation

verb

To become farther in distance from one side to the other

Usage examples:

[ i ] after it passes through town, the road widens., [ t ] let’s widen the discussion by listening…

noun

The measurement or extent of something from side to side; the lesser of two or the least of three dimensions of a body.

Usage examples:

The yard was about seven feet in width

noun

The distance across something from one side to the other

Usage examples:

[ c ] the shoes are available in three widths.