Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to spreadeagle

to spreadeagle

9.7
To beat someone by a very large amount in a game or contest
  • verb
  • /ˈsprɛɪdˌiɡəl/
  • Slang
translation icon : aplastar
  • The team spreadeagled their opponents in the final match.

Examples

  • Their campaign spreadeagled the competition, leaving no doubt about their dominance.

  • The underdogs were completely spreadeagled in the championship final.

  • The home team spreadeagled their rivals, winning by a margin of five goals.

  • He spreadeagles every player on the field!

  • The home team spreadeagled their rivals, winning by a margin of five goals.

  • Their campaign spreadeagled the competition, leaving no doubt about their dominance.

  • The underdogs were completely spreadeagled in the championship final.

Synonyms

to overwhelm
vsto spreadeagle
42 4.0

Defeat someone or something completely using greater force

shows victory by crushing dominance rather than by force
to rout
vsto spreadeagle
15 7.4

Defeat an enemy completely and force them to run away

describes crushing overwhelming defeat rather than escape and disorder
to demolish
vsto spreadeagle
8 3.7

Defeat an opponent completely and easily

focuses on crushing defeat rather than on shaming the loser
to spread-eagle
vsto spreadeagle
  • Informal
8.3

To beat an opponent by a very large amount

is the same in meaning but written without a hyphen as one word

How Overwhelming

to annihilate
  • NSFW
63 7.5
rout
12 7.2
to spreadeagle
  • Slang
9.7
to trounce
14 7.5
to beat
∞ 1.4

Surface Forms

spreadeagle infinitive
spreadeagled past
spreadeagled past participle
spreadeagling present participle
spreadeagles third person singular

Morphology

spreadeagle = spread + eagle (semi-transparent) = spread + eagle

The components 'spread' + 'eagle' are literal and visible, but the sense 'defeat overwhelmingly' is a figurative/idiomatic extension not directly deducible by an average B1 learner.

Etymology

Spreadeagle comes from the simple picture of the parts spread and eagle, like a person with arms and legs wide like an eagle's open wings. So, to spreadeagle someone is to leave them 'spread out' and helpless, which is why it means to defeat them completely.