| English Dictionary |
SPREADEAGLE
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
Dictionary entry overview: What does spreadeagle mean?
• SPREADEAGLE (verb)
The verb SPREADEAGLE has 1 sense:
1. defeat disastrously
Familiarity information: SPREADEAGLE used as a verb is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
| Conjugation: |
... he / she / it spreadeagles Past simple: spreadeagled
Past participle: spreadeagled
-ing form: spreadeagling
Sense 1
Meaning:
Defeat disastrously
Classified under:
Verbs of fighting, athletic activities
Synonyms:
rout; spread-eagle; spreadeagle
Hypernyms (to "spreadeagle" is one way to...):
beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish (come out better in a competition, race, or conflict)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s somebody
Context examples
Demi lay fast asleep, not in his usual spreadeagle attitude, but in a subdued bunch, cuddled close in the circle of his father's arm and holding his father's finger, as if he felt that justice was tempered with mercy, and had gone to sleep a sadder and wiser baby.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
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