spread out

phrasal verb

spread out; spreading out; spreads out

1

: to open, arrange, or place (something) over a large area

He spread out the map on the table.

He spread the cards out on the table.

The cards were spread out across the table.

2

: to be open, arranged, or extended over a large area

The city is spread out over a wide area.

3

: to move (parts of the body) outward or away from each other

Spread your arms out.

There's no room on the couch to spread yourself out.

4

: to divide up (something) over a period of time or among members of a group

They spread the work out among the committee members.

The course is spread out over two semesters.

5

: to move apart from the other members of a group especially to search an area

The police spread out to search the area faster.

Examples of spread out in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There was a time when no one in the semiconductor industry could build transistors like Intel, but a series of missteps and changes in strategy spread out over the better part of the last decade shifted that paradigm. —Marco Chiappetta, Forbes.com, 30 Apr. 2025

Where last season the defensive line was narrower and the midfield three were more spread out, the opposite has been true under Slot. —Mark Carey, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025

The most recent season was shot before the pandemic began, with nine episodes spread out between May 31, 2020, and Oct. 29, 2020, and then the final two on July 21 and July 28, 2021. —Michael Schneider, Variety, 29 Apr. 2025

However, tracking the streams back to their parents is not easy, because the streams move, weaving in and out of Earth's orbit and spreading out over time. —Keith Cooper, Space.com, 25 Apr. 2025

Rhymes for spread out

• about
• bailout
• blackout
• blowout
• breakout
• burnout
• buyout
• checkout
• closeout
• cutout
• devout
• dropout