{back spread}when the difference in price is less than the
normal one.
2. (Gems) Surface in proportion to the depth of a cut stone.
He bought a parcel of a field where he had spread
his tent. --Gen. xxxiii.
19.
Here the Rhone Hath spread himself a couch. --Byron.
2. To extend so as to cover something; to extend to a great
or grater extent in every direction; to cause to fill or
cover a wide or wider space.
Rose, as in a dance, the stately trees, and spread
Their branches hung with copious fruit. --Milton.
3. To divulge; to publish, as news or fame; to cause to be
more extensively known; to disseminate; to make known
fully; as, to spread a report; -- often acompanied by
abroad.
They, when they were departed, spread abroad his
fame in all that country. --Matt. ix.
31.
4. To propagate; to cause to affect great numbers; as, to
spread a disease.
5. To diffuse, as emanations or effluvia; to emit; as,
odoriferous plants spread their fragrance.
6. To strew; to scatter over a surface; as, to spread manure;
to spread lime on the ground.
7. To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions; as, to
spread a table.
Boiled the flesh, and spread the board. --Tennyson.
{To spread cloth}, to unfurl sail. [Obs.] --Evelyn.
Syn: To diffuse; propogate; disperse; publish; distribute;
scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense.
{Spread eagle}.
(a) An eagle with outspread wings, the national emblem of the
United States.
(b) The figure of an eagle, with its wings elevated and its
legs extended; often met as a device upon military
ornaments, and the like.
(c) (Her.) An eagle displayed; an eagle with the wings and
legs extended on each side of the body, as in the
double-headed eagle of Austria and Russia. See
{Displayed}, 2.
Plants, if they spread much, are seldom tall.
--Bacon.
Governor Winthrop, and his associates at
Charlestown, had for a church a large, spreading
tree. --B. Trumbull.
2. To be extended by drawing or beating; as, some metals
spread with difficulty.
3. To be made known more extensively, as news.
4. To be propagated from one to another; as, the disease
spread into all parts of the city. --Shak.
I have got a fine spread of improvable land.
--Addison.
No flower hath spread like that of the woodbine.
--Bacon.
3. A cloth used as a cover for a table or a bed.