splay
Part of speech: verb
adj
adv
noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: architecture
computing
computing-theory
engineering
mathematics
medicine
natural-sciences
pathology
physical-sciences
road
sciences
transport
Etymology: PIE word
 *dwís
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.
Inflected forms:
form: splays
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: splaying
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: splayed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: splayed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: more splay
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: most splay
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: more splay
pos: adv
tags: comparative
form: most splay
pos: adv
tags: superlative
form: splays
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To spread, spread apart, or spread out (something); to expand.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: Thiſſame ſo great a chaunge of the world, begoonne within a fewe yeares after Chriſt was putte to death, to be made generall and common through al the whold worlde, and withoute any maintenaunce or ſupportacion of mã [man], it encreaced from tyme to tyme ſtill more and more, vntyll the piece of leauen beeyng miengled in three peckes of meale did leauen and turne al the whole batche, and vntill the graine of muſtard ſeed beeyng digged into the yearth, did ferre and wyde ſpleigh his boughes abrode ouer Aſia, ouer Afrike, and Europe.
The Lydian maiden in her web did portray to her full / […] / Aſteriee ſtruggling with an Erne which did away hir beare, / And ouer Leda ſhe had made a Swan his wings to ſplay.
The tracks are laid with the inner rails only 10 in. apart, except at the half way point (North Walk) where they are splayed out to allow the cars to pass.
At Hounslow, the existing running lines would need splaying to create two turnback sidings inbetween ^([sic]) them, to help accommodate the planned service of 4tph.
gloss: 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.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: When entrance and egress [through a door] are constant, it may be supposed that the valves will be absent or unfastened,—that people will be passing more quickly than when the entrance and egress are unfrequent, and that the square angles of the wall will be inconvenient to such quick passers through. […] [T]hese angles, which would be worn away by friction, should at once be bevelled off, or, as it is called, splayed, and the most contracted part of the aperture made as short as possible, […]
gloss: To rearrange (a splay tree) so that a desired element is placed at the root.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To dislocate (a body part such as a shoulder bone).
pos: verb
tags: transitive
gloss: To unfurl or unroll (a banner or flag).
pos: verb
tags: obsolete
transitive
examples: Ye grounde yow vpon Godfrey, that grysly gargons face, / Your stondarde, Syr Olifranke, agenst me for to splay: […]
We rendred then with ſaftie for our liues, / Our Enſignes ſplayed, and manyging our armes, / With furder fayth, that from all kinde of giues, / Our ſouldiours ſhould remayne withouten harmes: […]
gloss: To have, or lie in, an oblique or slanted position.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
gloss: To spread out awkwardly; to sprawl.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: "What a finger!" says Mrs. Ponto, and indeed it was a finger, as knotted as a turkey's drumstick, and splaying all over the piano. When she had banged out the tune slowly, she began a different manner of "Gettin' up Stairs," and did so with a fury and swiftness quite incredible.
gloss: Oblique, slanted.
pos: adj
gloss: Turned outward; spread out.
pos: adj
examples: to sit splay-legged
gloss: Crooked, distorted, out of place.
pos: adj
tags: figuratively
examples: splay shoulders
In the German mind, as in the German language, there does seem to be something splay, something blunt-edged, unhandy, and infelicitous,—some want of quick, fine, sure perception, which tends to balance the great superiority of the Germans in knowledge, and in the disposition to deal impartially with knowledge.
We have a fellow on board, an Irish-American, for all the world like a beggar in a print by [Georges] Callot; one-eyed, with great, splay crow's-feet round the sockets; […]
gloss: In an oblique or slanted manner; obliquely, slantedly.
pos: adv
gloss: Of walking, etc.: with the feet turned outwards; in a splayfooted manner.
pos: adv
gloss: An outward spread of an object such as a bowl or cup.
pos: noun
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: also
attributive
examples: The daylight was so lowered by the impervious roof of cloud overhead that it scarcely reached further into Lord Mountclere's entrance-hall than to the splays of the windows, even but an hour or two after midday; […]
gloss: The amount of such a bevel, slant, or slope.
pos: noun
tags: also
attributive
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
examples: visibility splay
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
Derived words: mansplay
splayed
splayer
splaying
unsplay
splayfoot
splayfooted
splay-footed
splayleg
splay-legged
splay tree
Translations:
lang: Finnish
word: harottaa