splay
to spread out, expand, or extend.
to form with an oblique angle; make slanting; bevel.
to make with a splay or splays.
to disjoin; dislocate.
to have an oblique or slanting direction.
to spread or flare.
Architecture. a surface that makes an oblique angle with another, as where the opening through a wall for a window or door widens from the window or door proper toward the face of the wall.
spread out; wide and flat; turned outward.
clumsy or awkward.
oblique or awry.
Origin of splay
1Other words from splay
- un·splayed, adjective
Words Nearby splay
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use splay in a sentence
Draw each hand into a fist or, for fingertips, lift until you’re holding your bodyweight on your fingertips, with your fingers splayed open for stability.
On the decks, people were splayed out on their towels, lazily soaking up every ounce of sunshine, as if they had nowhere else to be.
Denmark Is Open to Americans—Here’s What It’s Like to Visit Right Now | Mary Holland | July 2, 2021 | The Daily BeastA few possessions earlier, James had taken a foul to the face from Warriors forward Draymond Green that left him splayed out on the court and needing eye drops once he returned to the bench.
With blurred vision but pinpoint accuracy, LeBron James buries late three to rescue Lakers | Ben Golliver, Des Bieler | May 20, 2021 | Washington PostGirls, she explained, held their hands out at a distance, fingers splayed like a fan, to look at their nails.
Her legs gradually drew up, splaying her knees outward — and drawing her feet inward — as if in some cruel, lotus-like pose.
When Births Go Horribly Wrong, Florida Protects Doctors and Forces Families to Pay the Price | by Carol Marbin Miller and Daniel Chang, Miami Herald | April 8, 2021 | ProPublica
They are cut on the splay so that the front end is half the width of a header and one side half the length of the brick.
No variation, no change; the art of it is to keep almost to the same groove, and not to make the figure broad and splay.
The Hills and the Vale | Richard JefferiesThe centre porch has twisted columns, which are carried round the splay of the arch.
Cathedral Cities of Italy | William Wiehe CollinsSuch a collection of splay feet, puffed joints, and misshapen limbs was assuredly never before made within so small a compass.
They are boldly splayed off, and in the middle of the splay is set a shaft, which finishes with a sculptured capital.
Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain | George Edmund Street
British Dictionary definitions for splay
/ (spleɪ) /
spread out; broad and flat
turned outwards in an awkward manner
to spread out; turn out or expand
(tr) vet science to dislocate (a joint)
a surface of a wall that forms an oblique angle to the main flat surfaces, esp at a doorway or window opening
enlargement
Origin of splay
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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