splay
/spleɪ/ verb, adjective, adverb, noun
Forms splays splaying splayed
- verb To spread, spread apart, or spread out (something); to expand.
- verb (chiefly architecture) To construct a bevel or slope on (something, such as the frame or jamb of a door or window); to bevel, to slant, to slope.
- verb (computing theory) To rearrange (a splay tree) so that a desired element is placed at the root.
- verb (pathology) To dislocate (a body part such as a shoulder bone).
- verb (obsolete) To unfurl or unroll (a banner or flag).
- verb To have, or lie in, an oblique or slanted position.
- verb To spread out awkwardly; to sprawl.
- adjective Oblique, slanted.
- adjective Turned outward; spread out. “to sit splay-legged”
- adjective (figurative) Crooked, distorted, out of place. “splay shoulders”
- adverb In an oblique or slanted manner; obliquely, slantedly.
- adverb Of walking, etc.: with the feet turned outwards; in a splayfooted manner.
- noun An outward spread of an object such as a bowl or cup.
- noun A bevel, slant, or slope, especially of the frame or jamb of a door or window, by which an opening is made larger at one face of the wall than at the other, or larger at each of the faces than it is between them.
- noun The amount of such a bevel, slant, or slope.
- noun A widening of a minor road where it forms a junction with a major road to ensure that the view of traffic on the major road by drivers on the minor road is not obstructed. “visibility splay”
- noun The view to the left or right which a driver on a minor road has of traffic on the major road; also, a plan showing this.
- verb (transitive, obsolete except Ireland, Lincolnshire, Shropshire) Synonym of spay (“to destroy or remove the ovaries and/or uterus (of a female animal) to prevent pregnancy”).
Synonyms
broaden display widen awry slantingly slantwise slopingly splayfoot spay turn out spread out rotate dislocate luxate slip
Etymology
The verb is derived from Middle English splaien, splayen (“to display; to spread out, unfurl (a flag, etc.); (cooking) to cut open (a fish) lengthwise and lay it open; (figurative) to appear; to spread”), an aphetic form of Middle English displaien, displayen (“to display”): see display.
The adjective and adverb are derived from the verb, or from splayfoot (noun) or splayfooted (adjective). The noun is derived from the verb.
From Middle English splaien, splayen, a variant of spaien, spayen (“to remove the ovaries of (a female animal), spay; to stab or kill (an animal)”): see spay.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To display; to spread. [Obs.] "Our ensigns splayed." Gascoigne.
- verb To dislocate, as a shoulder bone.
- adjective Displayed; spread out; turned outward; hence, flat; ungainly; as, splay shoulders.
- adjective A slope or bevel, especially of the sides of a door or window, by which the opening is made larged at one face of the wall than at the other, or larger at each of the faces than it is between them.
Etymology [Abbrev. of display.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “splay”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details