overspreadn.
/ˈəʊvəsprɛd/, U.S. /ˈoʊvərˌsprɛd/ = overspreading n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [noun] > as or with something spread over
overspreading1563
spreading1601
overspread1858
1858 U.S. Democratic Rev. Aug. 109 Neither the hand of the tyrant not the arm of the savage can much longer delay the complete overspread of American institutions upon this continent.
1866 Reader 31 Mar. 331 The main contour of surface..was acquired prior to the overspread of the glacial series.
1900 M. E. W. Freeman Heart's Highway xvii It had a curious effect, through starting in a distant quarter..then coming nearer and nearer, till the whole field rang with that wide overspread of human voice.
1989 Forest Industries (Nexis) Oct. 30 The smaller trim allowance reduces overspread of glue, thus reducing cost.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
overspreadv.
/ˌəʊvəˈsprɛd/, U.S. /ˌoʊvərˈsprɛd/ 1. transitive. To spread (something) over or upon something else. Also in extended use in passive: (of a people) to be dispersed over a region. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > spreading or diffusion > [verb (transitive)] > spread over or through (something)
overgangOE
overflowOE
spread?c1335
overspreada1400
overflood1882
OE Rule St. Benet (Corpus Cambr.) 84 Beon þær symble bedd genihtsumlice ofersprædde [a1225 Winteney oferspredde].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) 5486 (MED) Þe ospring þat of Ioseph bred was mykil in lande ouerspred.
a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) viii. ix. 25 A gentill steyd..On quham at all partis was ourspred and fold A dun lyonys skyn.
1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 173 This nycht I call Idolatrie, The clude ouerspred, Hypocresie.
a1796 J. Macpherson Poems of Ossian (1805) II. 485 Arms, half-lopt limbs, and gasping men up-piled, O'erspread confusion on the dismal field.
1995 Black William in rec.arts.poems (Usenet newsgroup) 30 Apr. I've seen him on the foredeck at full noon..while all the rest Were grateful for the awning overspread.
1998 Jrnl. Egyptian German Soc. Zool. 25(E) 59 Formulations of bacterial stomach toxins must be..overspread on the water surface for the control of these larvae.
2. transitive. To spread or extend over (something); to cover completely; (also in extended use) to permeate, pervade, or overrun. Also occasionally intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (intransitive)] > be covered
overspreadc1230
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > form or act as covering for > by spreading
overbredeeOE
overgoOE
overspreadc1230
overcomea1300
spread?1567
bespreada1664
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 32 Þeo þe wes riht ta iwraht wið godes honden wes þurh a sihðe biswiken & ibroht in to brad sunne. þet al þe world ouerspreadde [a1250 Nero ouer spredde; ?c1225 Cleo. of spradde, altered to ouerspradde; a1250 Titus ouerspreades; a1500 Royal ouerspredyth].
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) 7080 Swa muchel lond..swa wule anes bule hude ælches weies ouer-spræden.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 7803 (MED) He wende him in to france & þe contreie ouer spradde & robbede & destruede.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) v. 1653 (MED) God..made him forto multeplie Into so gret a progenie That thei Egipte al overspradde.
a1425 (c1300) Assumption of Virgin (BL Add.) (1901) l. 864 A lyȝt cloude..ouer sprad hem euery man.
c1450 J. Capgrave Solace of Pilgrims (Bodl. 423) (1911) 111 Euene as oyle ouerspredith all maner licouris so þe mercy of oure lord houyth a boue all his werkis.
a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 14555 (MED) My mantel overspredeth al.
1543 ( Chron. J. Hardyng (1812) 217 (MED) He sawe a cloude full euen, As rede as bloodde..Whiche Englande hole ouerspred in quantitee.
1594 T. Bowes tr. P. de la Primaudaye French Acad. II. 9 Being heires of that corruption that hath ouerspread the whole nature of man.
1618 T. D. Canaans Calamitie sig. H Then worthy Victor, mittigate my blame, And let thy glory, ouer-spread my shame.
1651 C. Cartwright Certamen Religiosum To Rdr. Surely, if Popery overspread againe, barbarism and illiterateness is a most likely means to effect it.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics ii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 78 Here wild Olive-shoots o'respread the ground. View more context for this quotation
1725 H. Baker Kitty's Dream in Orig. Poems 13 He enters with becoming Grace, Blushes overspread her Face.
1748 T. Smollett Roderick Random I. xvii. 135 You Scotchmen have overspread us..as the locusts did Egypt.
1796 J. Bennet Redemption i. iii. 13 I foresee, that thro' thee shall have birth A num'rous race to overspread the earth.
1806 W. Taylor in Ann. Rev. 4 250 All the excesses of masculineness broke loose and overspread the country.
1863 ‘G. Eliot’ Romola I. vi. 98 A pink flush overspread her face.
1900 G. C. Brodrick Mem. & Impr. 316 It would soon be overspread by vulgar jerry-built villas.
1949 Times 15 Sept. 5/4 A beatific smile overspreads his countenance.
2002 Herald-Dispatch (Huntington, W. Va.) (Nexis) 2 Mar. 2 a Windy rain showers will overspread the region this afternoon.
3. To spread something over (something else); to cover (the surface of something) with.
a. transitive. In passive (with unexpressed agent).
ΚΠ
c1300 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Otho) 9503 Was þat kineworþe bed Al mid palle ouer sprad [c1275 Calig. ouer bræd].
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. 1582 (MED) Þei stood Vp-on þe soil al ouersprad with blood.
c1450 (?a1405) J. Lydgate Complaint Black Knight (Fairf.) 384 in Minor Poems (1934) ii. 51 (MED) The soyle was pleyn, smothe, and wonder softe, Al ouer-sprad wyth tapites that Nature Had made her-selfe.
c1480 (a1400) St. James Less 813 in W. M. Metcalfe Legends Saints Sc. Dial. (1896) I. 173 Al þe feld, þat wes our-sprad with fare quhyte dew a-bout þat sted.
a1500 (?c1400) Sir Triamour (Cambr.) (1937) 973 The kyng þen was sore adredd For þe Emperowre soche power hadd..He sawe hys londe ouyr spradd.
1563 T. Sackville in W. Baldwin et al. Myrrour for Magistrates (new ed.) Buckingham vi Northampton fyeld with armed men orespred.
1608 M. Fotherby Fovre Serm. 81 All our seas were ouer-spread with the sailes of our enemies.
1647 T. May Hist. Parl. iii. iii. 55 The whole Kingdome..was now overspread with a generall Warre.
1722 R. Blackmore Redemption iii. 111 Near the time of our Saviour's coming, the World was overspread with detestable Immorality and profound Ignorance.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. xii. 261 High mountains overspread with trees.
1835 J. Hogg Tales Wars Montrose II. 149 The sky was overspread with a pall of blackness.
1870 W. C. Bryant tr. Homer Iliad I. ii. 70 Pyrasus Sacred to Ceres and o'erspread with flowers.
1928 Cent. Mag. Aug. 466/1 The countenance of the twentieth-century Boniface in the twentieth-century road-house is overspread with satisfaction.
1973 E. Wilson Embroidery Bk. iii. 181 Everything was overspread with needlework, antimacassars, bureau scarves, wall pockets.
b. transitive. In active constructions. Now somewhat archaic.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > cover [verb (transitive)] > spread or draw over (a thing) as covering for > bespread or cover with
wryc950
bredeOE
bridgeOE
bespreadc1275
couchc1330
spreadc1330
cover1382
overspreadc1385
overlaya1400
overcast1440
to draw overc1450
ramplish1494
to lay over1535
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 2871 Theseus hath ysent After a beere and it al ouerspradde With clooth of gold.
c1395 G. Chaucer Merchant's Tale 1799 Night with his mantel that is derk and rude Gan ouersprede themysperie aboute.
c1450 in R. L. Greene Early Eng. Carols (1977) 190 (MED) In hys vertu he wol vs led Agaynys the fend, the ful wyght, And with hys banner vs ouersprede.
a1500 (?a1475) Guy of Warwick (Cambr. Ff.2.38) 2191 (MED) They ouyrspradde all þe feldys Wyth spere, hawberk, and wyth scheldys.
1606 J. Hind Eliosto Libidinoso ii. 93 The darke night had ouer-spread the earth with her blacke mantle.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles ii. 24 With hostile forces heele ore-spread the land. View more context for this quotation
1664 S. Butler Hudibras: Second Pt. ii. iii. 181 A Vine, sprung from her hanches, O'respread his Empire, with its branches.
1715 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad I. iv. 403 The Hero's Warmth o'erspread His Cheek with Blushes.
1716 J. Gay Trivia in Poet. Wks. (1926) 67 Some heedless flirt Will over-spread thy calves with spatt'ring dirt.
a1735 G. Granville Genuine Wks. (1736) 6 Confess their Phrenzy, and confirm their King, Who with their Venom over-spread thy Soil, Those Scorpions of the State.
1808 T. Jefferson Senate Addr. 8 Nov. in Writings (1984) 254 Under a continuance of the belligerent measures which..overspread the ocean with dangers, [etc.].
1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun II. ix. 104 Dealers had..overspread them with scanty awnings.
1882 R. Browning Ivan Ivanovitch in Dramatic Idyls (ed. 2) 82 I fall..quite on the babe I guard: I overspread with flesh the whole of him.
1902 A. R. Colquhoun Mastery of Pacific xi. 307 The Hindoos who covered Java with their temples and overspread it with their influence.
1926 Golden Age 2 June 551 Unquenchable conflagrations will overspread the sky with a blanket of smoke.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1858
v.OE