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Glite Dictionary
🚶 To move apart 🗂️ To arrange widely 🖐️ To extend outward
to spread out

to spread out

89 2.8
To move apart and cover a wider area
  • phrasal verb
  • /sprɛd aʊt/
translation icon : dispersarse
  • Spread out, but stay in this area.
  • spread out over a large area
  • were spread out
  • spread out in four

So maybe the people who are spread out among the land as well.

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Examples

  • His companions nodded, and on a hand signal from Black, they spread out into the building.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • All right, spread out, everybody.

    On a Wing and a Prayer (2023)

  • And we're outside and, you know, we're spread out and it works fine.

  • After he died, his organization spread out, became more of a network.

    The Outfit (2022)

  • Offering lower prices at non-peak periods may help to spread out customers over the year.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Pai families, especially in the summer, spread out across a large, rugged area.

    Academic text (1998)

  • A survey consists of thousands of geophone arrays spread out over several square miles.

    Academic text (2001)

  • Ground forces have occupied several buildings along Marehan Road... ...but they're all spread out.

    Black Hawk Down (2001)

  • The cut-up red tiles and white tile dust are spread out across the kitchen counter.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • The hikers were advised to spread out so that they could cover more ground and find the best trail.

Synonyms

to scatter
vsto spread out
110 2.7

To make people or animals move quickly in different directions

is about moving apart over an area without implying sudden speed
to disperse
vsto spread out
104 4.4

To cause people and things, like a crowd or fog, to spread over a wide area

is used when items move apart on their own rather than being forced
to dissipate
vsto spread out
48 6.8

To make something spread out and disappear, for example fog or tension

means moving apart without implying that something will vanish or end
to fan out
vsto spread out
30 3.7

To spread out from one point in different directions

is about moving apart across an area not necessarily from one center
to sprawl
vsto spread out
27 4.6

To spread out over a large area in an untidy way

is neutral in tone and does not imply untidy or irregular form
to straggle
vsto spread out
8 6.4

To move slowly and get separated from the main group

focuses on general movement apart rather than irregular trailing or gaps
to dispread
vsto spread out
  • Archaic
9.9

To move outward in many directions to cover a wide area

is about things moving apart across an area rather than continuous extension
to divaricate
vsto spread out
  • Specialized
9.9

To spread apart from a common point like fingers or branches

describes general movement apart rather than branching into distinct parts

Antonyms

to gather
∞ 1.0

Bring people, things, or information together in one place

How Wide

to fan out
30 3.7
to spread out
89 2.8
to scatter
110 2.7
cluster
210 3.1

Surface Forms

spread out infinitive
spread out past
spread out past participle
spreading out present participle
spreads out third person singular

Morphology

spread + out

The meaning 'to turn something outward from the center line' is directly derivable from combining 'spread' (to distribute or extend across a surface) with the directional particle 'out' (away from the interior). This motion/extension pattern is a common, compositional phrasal-verb structure found across languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Spread out has the image of people or things moving away from a center, as when a search team spreads out across a field. So it means 'to move apart' or 'to disperse'.