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Spread eagle   /sprɛd ˈigəl/   Listen
verb
Spread  v.  Imp. & p. p. of Spread, v.
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.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Spread eagle" Quotes from Famous Books



... adventure befell this cabin-passenger. There is an old custom, still in vogue among some merchant sailors, of tying fast in the rigging any lubberly landsman of a passenger who may be detected taking excursions aloft, however moderate the flight of the awkward fowl. This is called "making a spread eagle" of the man; and before he is liberated, a promise is exacted, that before arriving in port, he shall furnish the ship's company with money enough for a ...
— Redburn. His First Voyage • Herman Melville
... arms and two stars. Lieutenant general: One large star and two smaller ones. Major general: Two silver stars. Brigadier general: One silver star. Colonel: One silver spread eagle. Lieutenant colonel: One silver leaf. Major: One gold leaf. Captain: Two silver bars. First ...
— Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Infantry • War Department
... the galled necks of oxen and other cattell." Bracken is also named botanically, Pteris aquilina, because the figure which appears in its succulent stem when cut obliquely across at the base, has been thought to resemble a spread eagle; and, therefore, Linnaeus termed the Fern Aquilina. Some call it, for the same reason, "King Charles in the oak tree"; and in Scotland the symbol is said to be an impression of the Devil's foot. [185] Again, witches are reputed to detest this Fern, since it bears ...
— Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure • William Thomas Fernie
... Coat of arms and two stars. Lieutenant general: One large star and two smaller ones. Major general: Two silver stars. Brigadier general: One silver star. Colonel: One silver spread eagle. Lieutenant colonel: One silver leaf. Major: One gold leaf. Captain: Two silver bars. First lieutenant: ...
— Manual for Noncommissioned Officers and Privates of Infantry • War Department
... them! I can't help it. I believe if old Hamblin was on board, I would join with the rest of the fellows in making a spread eagle of him on the fore shrouds," ...
— Dikes and Ditches - Young America in Holland and Belguim • Oliver Optic


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