spread-eagle jump
- noun
- /ˈsprɛdˌiɡəl dʒʌmp/
- Specialized
- She wowed the audience with a spectacular spread-eagle jump during her routine.
Examples
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She performed a perfect spread-eagle jump during the competition.
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The gymnast lost points because her spread-eagle jump was not fully extended.
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He practiced his spread-eagle jump repeatedly to perfect his form.
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Can you show me a spread-eagle jump?
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She wowed the audience with a spectacular spread-eagle jump during her routine.
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He practiced his spread-eagle jump repeatedly to perfect his form.
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The gymnast lost points because her spread-eagle jump was not fully extended.
How Wide
Surface Forms
Morphology
spread-eagle + jump
The phrase is a directly descriptive compound: 'spread' (to extend) + 'eagle' (a bird with outstretched wings) evokes a posture with limbs extended, and combined with 'jump' it clearly denotes a jump performed with arms and legs spread. This adjective+noun composition follows a common, imageable pattern that a B1 learner who knows the constituent words can readily infer.
Etymology
Spread-eagle jump comes from the image of an eagle in flight: the person's arms and legs are spread wide like an eagle's wings. So it means 'a jump in which the arms and legs are extended outward' and helps you picture the open, wing-like shape.