SPRAWL • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Sprawl

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/sprɔl/ Listen

noun

sprawl n. The position or state resulting from sprawling; as, he sat on the couch in a sprawl; uncontrolled urban sprawl.

verb

Sprawl v. i. (past & past part. sprawled; pres. part. sprawling)

To spread and stretch the body or limbs carelessly in a horizontal position; to lie with the limbs stretched out ungracefully.

To spread irregularly, as vines, plants, or trees; to spread ungracefully, as chirography.

To move, when lying down, with awkward extension and motions of the limbs; to scramble in creeping. "The birds were not fledged; but upon sprawling and struggling to get clear of the flame, down they tumbled."

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Etymology of 'Sprawl'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Sprawl" Quotes from Famous Books

... is repair day, rips are sewed up, buttons sewed on clothing, and for the initiated, the darning of socks. In camps with permanent buildings a big log fire roars in the fireplace, the boys sprawl on the floor with their faces toward the fire, and while the rain plays a tattoo[1] upon the roof some one reads aloud an interesting story, such as "Treasure Island," "The Shadowless Man," "The Bishop's Shadow," or the chapters on "The Beneficent Rain" and "When the Dew Falls," ...

— Camping For Boys • H.W. Gibson

... been holding Watts in a sitting posture by a firm grip on his collar, allowed the limp figure to sprawl headlong again. He wanted to plunge both hands deeply into his trousers pockets, because men of his type associate attitude so closely with thought that the one is apt to become almost dependent on the other. And so, for the moment, the safeguarding of Watts was of no consequence. But Watts had ...

— The Stowaway Girl • Louis Tracy

... beneath bending willows arched over this merry brook, one sun-bright morning riotous with song of birds, sat Jocelyn with Robin a-sprawl beside him. ...

— The Geste of Duke Jocelyn • Jeffery Farnol

... prick-song, scores of finches crossed the slopes, dipping from bush to bush. Ippolita clasped her hands behind her head, and looked lazily at all this early glory. The freedom of her heart seemed explicit in that of her limbs. What she could do with her legs, for instance! How she could sprawl at ease! She was just like all the others—as ragged, as dirty, at least; and soon she would be as brown. Dio buono, the splendid ...

— Little Novels of Italy • Maurice Henry Hewlett

... mistaking that; she held her head up like one, and dressed as real ladies do, expensively but plainly—ay, old Jacob knows; he didn't go yachting for years for nothing. But it wasn't for me to form opinions. My berth was an easy one—just a sprawl all day long with a pipe in my mouth, and a good night's rest to follow; and that was all it was ...

— In Luck at Last • Walter Besant

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