spreadingn.
/ˈsprɛdɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈsprɛdɪŋ/ The action of spread v. (in various senses); an instance of this.† 1. Propagation. See spread v. 1. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > [noun]
i-streonc893
strainc950
akennessOE
spreadingOE
upspringc1000
akenningOE
akennednessOE
strainc1175
streningc1230
begetc1330
begettingc1330
engendrurec1350
generationa1382
gettinga1382
genderingc1384
multiplicationa1387
increase1390
prolificationa1393
procreationc1395
engenderinga1400
gendrure?a1400
engendure?a1425
progeniturec1429
propagation?1440
teemingc1450
breeda1500
geniturea1500
engenderment1507
progeneration1548
fathering1549
engender1556
race1561
multiplying1599
pullulation1641
progermination1648
reproduction1713
face-making1785
baby-making1827
begettal1864
fertility1866
OE (Northumbrian) Liturgical Texts (Durham Ritual) in A. H. Thompson & U. Lindelöf Rituale Ecclesiae Dunelmensis (1927) 109 Institutis tuis quibus propagationem humani generis ordinasti benignus adsiste : settnissvm ðinum ðæm sprædung..mennisces cynnes giendebredades uelrumlice tostond.
2.
a. The action or an instance of opening out, displaying, extending, expanding, or disseminating something: see transitive uses of spread v. II. Also with forth. See also tail-spreading n. at tail n.1 Compounds 1b(b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > [noun] > spreading out
spreadinga1250
spreadinga1382
outspreading?c1425
stenting1507
expansure1598
extensure1604
expansion1646
dispansion1658
extension1684
expanding1844
outspread1848
splaying1881
fanning-out1883
the world > space > extension in space > spreading or diffusion > [noun]
spreadinga1250
skeltingc1540
diffusion1585
prosemination1611
scatter1642
dissemination1646
radiation1658
dispersion1664
spread1757
distribution1860
dispersal1863
scatteration1892
spreadation1925
a1250 Ureisun ure Louerde (Lamb.) in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 185 Wiþ þe ilke spredunge [of the arms]..as þe moder to hire child.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 470 Spredynge, dilatacio, extencio.
c1460 in R. Brotanek Mittelengl. Dichtungen MS 432 Trin. Coll. Dublin (1940) 156 Þe egle þat gret worship haþe wonne þorow spredyng of his wynges.
a1513 W. Dunbar Flyting in Poems (1998) I. 207 Oft for ane caus thy burdclaith neidis no spredding.
1560 Bible (Geneva) Ezek. xxvi. 5 Thou shalt be for the spreading of nettes in the middes of the sea.
1657 Attest Innocency Z. Crofton sig. Aiij Many of his friends considering the spreading of this scandal,..did see the necessity of speaking in his behalf.
1704 J. Griffith Sermon preach'd 17 We..endeavour to quench the light of the Gospel and hinder the spreading of its illumination.
1774 W. Mitford Ess. Harmony Lang. 172 The spreading of classical learning had not at first that general effect in euphonizing our language which might have been expected.
1827 E. Porter Anal. Princ. Rhetorical Delivery vii. 159 If any gesture is demanded, it is not the spreading of both hands.
1858 J. Caird Serm. iii. 92 In vain as the spreading of sails beneath windless skies.
1871 G. A. Lawrence Anteros III. xvi. 209 Ralph could not catch the words; but the shrug of the shoulders, and the spreading forth of the palms, were significant enough.
1919 Eccl. Rev. July 111/2 The writer..recognizes certain indications of a dispersing and spreading of Catholic ideals.
1993 Guardian (Nexis) 1 Oct. (Features section) 22 Prescott called up nods, winks, rib-diggings, shrugs and Gallic spreadings of the arms.
b. The action or an instance of extending, expanding, stretching out, growing outwards, or moving apart: see intransitive and reflexive uses of spread v. II. Also with †abroad, apart, out.ocean-floor spreading: see ocean n. Compounds 2; sea-floor spreading: see sea-floor n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > [noun] > spreading out
spreadinga1250
spreadinga1382
outspreading?c1425
stenting1507
expansure1598
extensure1604
expansion1646
dispansion1658
extension1684
expanding1844
outspread1848
splaying1881
fanning-out1883
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(1)) (1850) Isa. viii. 8 Ther shal be the spredyng out [a1425 L.V. spredyng forth; L. extensio] of his [sc. a river's] wenges.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add. 27944) (1975) II. xv. lxxv. 770 Many rowtes of knyȝtes may sitte at þe mete vndir þe brede of spredynge [L. latitudine] of one tree.
a1425 (c1384) Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Corpus Oxf.) (1850) Ezek. xxxi. 7 He was moost fayr in his greetnes, and in spredynge [L. dilatatione] of tendre trees.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 470 Spredynge, or streykynge owte.., extencio, protencio.
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. II. iv. vi. sig. Ggg.vij/1 Whose goeinges foorth, (or spreadings abroad) haue beene..from euerlasting.
1617 F. Moryson Itinerary iii. 144 Harts (notable for their greatnesse, and the spreading of their hornes).
1639 O. Wood Alphabet. Bk. Physicall Secrets 134 The water thereof is perfect good to stay the spreading of the Canker.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 46 The spreading of the ends of these two Tennants into the spreading of the Mortesses in the Cheeks.
1721 J. Perry Acct. Stopping Daggenham Breach 52 A strong drift Work to be made,..to prevent the Dam from spreading and settling out at Foot.
1733 J. Smith Carpenters Compan. 20 Pieces dove-tailed cross the Angles of the Plate, serve to keep it from spreading.
1772 N. D. Falck Treat. Venereal Dis. ii. vi. 229 If..a spreading of the virus happens, the neighbouring muscles will partake of the infection.
1832 H. Melvill in Preacher III. 97/1 The creatures whom he hath sent forth to tenant the spreadings of immensity.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VII. 574 A spreading of the fluid into the retro-ocular tissue.
1906 T. J. Winans U.S. Patent 831,129 3/2 A rivet having shoulders adapted to extend over and positively interlock with the rivet-engaging portions of the holding device and prevent spreading apart thereof.
1940 E. Hemingway For whom Bell Tolls xiii. 173 There was a spreading, though, as a cobra's hood spreads. He could feel this. He could feel the menace of the spreading.
1996 Q. Jrnl. Royal Astron. Soc. 37 631 Their compilation encompasses mass extinctions,..sea-floor spreadings, geological sequence boundaries and orogenic events.
3. The action or an instance of covering or distributing something: see transitive uses of spread v. III. Also with about, around, out.See also load-spreading n. at load n. Compounds 2, muck-spreading n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > giving > distributing or dealing out > [noun]
dolec1275
dealing1377
distribution1382
dispensationa1387
spreading1601
dispensing1608
distributing1663
participation1755
doling1876
handout1913
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > [noun] > as or with something spread over
overspreading1563
spreading1601
overspread1858
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > coating or covering with a layer > [noun] > smearing or spreading with a substance
daubing1393
laying1496
gumming1580
slubbering1582
spreading1601
smearing1611
circumlition1656
oblimation1656
delinition1664
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 508 Touching the spreading of mucke, and mingling it with the mould of a land.
1655 G. Plats in S. Hartlib Legacy (ed. 3) 189 A man may fill 400. holes in the twinckling of an eye,..with a very little charges more than the spreading of the dung doth usually cost.
1725 R. Bradley Surv. Anc. Husb. & Gardening xv. 263 At the spreading of these Heaps of Ashes, it is commonly practised, to [etc.].
a1737 S. Humphreys Sacred Bks. Old & New Test. (1739) III. Pref. 424 The occasion of some of these Epistles was the spreading about of those dangerous opinions..of worshipping Angels.
1765 Museum Rusticum IV. 123 The reward of manuring a cold clay with coal-ashes, even in the year immediately following the spreading of it.
1810 Cobbett's Polit. Reg. 3 Feb. 176 To give way to the spreading around of such suspicions must produce implacable resentments.
1849 L. Rellstab Eighteen Hundred & Twelve xxv. 74/1 They are needlessly alarmed by the spreading about of foolish rumors.
1866 Macmillan's Mag. Sept. 330/2 I might describe the spreading of bread and butter, or the baking of cakes.
1874 Hahnemannian Monthly Jan. 270 In a house where, at 12 o'clock noon, with the striking of the clock the table is spread, the striking of the clock cannot be assigned as the cause of the spreading of the table.
1912 P. P. Howe J. M. Synge v. 146 Synge's intermingling of comedy and tragedy is very different from the Elizabethan spreading of a banquet of all the emotions.
1957 Waterloo (Iowa) Daily Courier 27 Jan. 19/8 The laboring time will consist of six nine-hour days for a total of 54, which would permit spreading out of time for snow removal.
1984 D. Massey in D. Massey & J. Allen Geogr. Matters! iv. 162 Wage bargaining had become led by the central regions and any spreading around of jobs..slackened that bargaining power.
2015 Farming Life (Nexis) 7 Feb. With the spreading of slurry well underway.
4. Music. The action or an instance of playing a chord with the notes in rapid succession rather than simultaneously, or of playing the notes of a chord in this way: see spread v. IV.
ΚΠ
1856 M. C. Clarke tr. H. Berlioz Treat. Mod. Instrumentation 238/2 The inevitable inversion and spreading of the chords.
1879 G. Grove Dict. Music I. 87/1 The simple spreading of the notes of a chord..is usually indicated by certain signs.
1972 Musical Times 113 372/1 The free spreading of chords is also strongly suggested by the protracted grace notes and arpeggiated flutters that fill his mature style.
2012 C. Brown in M. Harlow Mozart's Chamber Music with Keyboard xii. 246 Perhaps the sign..indicated a particularly broadly spread arpeggio within the context of an almost continuous, tighter spreading of chords.
Compounds
C1. General attributive, designating things on to which, by which, or in which something is spread (in various senses), as spreading commission, spreading hammer, spreading knife, spreading machine, spreading place, spreading room, spreading sheet, etc.
ΚΠ
a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 61v Sparsorium, a spredynge place.
c1595 Countess of Pembroke Psalme xcii. 38 in Coll. Wks. (1998) II. 140 Where god doth dwell Shall be his spreading place.
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1953) VI. 344 Hee hath given us that spreading Commission, To..preach to every creature.
1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck Een Spreeder, the Spreding-sheete of a bed.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory (1905) iii. xiv. 3/1 The second..which is called a chopping Knife, or a cookes chopper, or a spreading Knife.
1814 W. S. Mason Statist. Acct. Ireland I. 195 ‘Stragh’, a swarding or spreading-place by the river's side.
1837 Penny Cycl. VIII. 95/1 The spreading-machine is not universally used;..for fine yarns..machine-spreading does not answer so well as hand-spreading.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 578 The spreading furnace or oven is that in which cylinders are expanded into tables or plates.
1839 A. Ure Dict. Arts 611 The French gold-beaters employ besides this hammer..the spreading hammer.
1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts 4th Ser. 2/2 (Waterproofing) To make the thick paste into a sheet, what is termed a ‘spreading machine’ is used.
1885 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts 4th Ser. 5/1 The spreading-rooms of some of the largest establishments.
1898 N.E.D. Hearth... In cylinder glass manufacture: A spreading frame.
1921 Rubber Age 10 Nov. 87/1 The principle is the same as that previously described for spreading machines.
1968 Brain 91 3 The animals were given subcutaneous injections of dextrose and saline together with a spreading agent (hyaluronidase).
1986 E. Hall in A. Limon et al. Home Owner Man. (ed. 2) iii. iii. 354 A spreading device at the cold water inlet ensures that incoming cold water spreads evenly over the base of the cylinder and does not mix with water already heated.
2000 Watermark Catal. (RNLI) Christmas 12/2 This stylish wooden platter with matching spreading knife..is tailor-made for serving tortilla chips.
C2.
spreading board n. a board for spreading something, or for spreading something on; spec. (a) a setting board for insect specimens; (b) rare a board on which sheep are laid while being shorn.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > zoology > study of specific types of animal > [noun] > insects > equipment material
spreading board1821
setting-board1825
spreader1910
Polyporus1940
electroantennography1973
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > sheep-farming > sheep-shearing > [noun] > shearing-shed > hurdle on which sheep laid
sheep bar1557
spreading board1821
1821 London Jrnl. Arts & Sci. 2 25 As these pressing rollers traverse, they cause the inking rollers, four in number, to pass over the types, having been previously supplied with ink from the ducts distributers, and spreading boards, much in the usual manner.
1844 Farmer's Mag. Aug. 145/1 The cart is got up..with a strong and efficient pump, leather pipe, spreading board, &c.
1871 Western Educ. Rev. Apr. 100/2 A spreading board for butterflies and moths will next be found necessary.
1874 T. Hardy Far from Madding Crowd I. xxii 247 The issue of their dialogue was the taking of her hand by the courteous farmer to help her over the spreading-board into the bright May sunlight outside.
1912 Weekly Market Growers Jrnl. 15 June 2/1 When the field is reached the gate is raised and the night soil runs over a spreading board while the wagon is in motion.
1963 V. Nabokov Gift ii. 111 To drive a pin smoothly through the insect's thorax, stick it in the cork groove of the spreading board.
2005 Pantagraph (Bloomington, Illinois) (Nexis) 12 Aug. d1 When they're pliable enough for her to pry their fragile wings apart, she lays them on a spreading board and outlines them with insect pins.
spreading factor n. Biology a factor that promotes the spread of injected material, cells, or bacteria within tissue; spec. a hyaluronidase or sialidase.
ΚΠ
1932 Jrnl. Exper. Med. 55 461 The ‘spreading factor’ in plain testicle extract is completely inactivated at a temperature of 60°C.
1939 Nature 9 Dec. 978/2 The occurrence of spreading factor in bacterial filtrates has so far been found to go parallel with their mucinase content.
1978 Exper. Cell Res. 115 227 Techniques previously developed for the purification of the fetal calf adhesion and spreading factor were directly applied to human serum.
2004 Jrnl. Bacteriol. 186 3922 This genetic and biochemical evidence suggests that the spreading factors hyaluronidase and sialidase, a combination unprecedented in mycoplasmas, are the basis of the virulence of M. alligatoris.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
spreadingadj.
/ˈsprɛdɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈsprɛdɪŋ/ That spreads (in various intransitive and reflexive uses of spread v. II.).broad-spreading, fair-spreading, farther-spreading, thick-spreading, etc.: see the first element. See also wide-spreading adj. For transitive uses in compounds, as disease-spreading, see the first element.
1. That opens out, extends, or grows outwards; increasing in size or area. Also figurative and in figurative contexts.
a. gen.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > spreading or diffusion > [adjective] > spreading or diffusing
spreading1532
outspreading1603
diffusive1610
diffusing1655
diffusile1727
suffusive1872
farther-spreading1876
1532 (c1385) Usk's Test. Love in W. W. Skeat Chaucerian & Other Pieces (1897) 45 (MED) If that Margarite denyeth now nat to suffre her vertues shyne to thee-wardes with spredinge bemes.
a1593 C. Marlowe tr. Lucan First Bk. (1600) 530 Fiery meteors,..Now spearlike, long; now like a spreading torch [L. nunc sparso lumine lampas].
1599 R. Allott Wits Theater Little World f. 219v Fortune standing ouer his head, holding in her hands a spreading net, where-with-all shee caught Citties and Regions.
1651 W. Davenant Gondibert i. i. 52 Her spreading stature talness was, not length.
1683 J. Moxon Mech. Exercises II. 336 While he is taking the Sheet off the Tympan, he gives a quick spreading glance upon it.
1725 W. Broome in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. ii. 404 Me from our coast shall spreading sails convey.
1746 J. Hervey Medit. among Tombs 62 Soon arises the Anemone, incircled at the Bottom with a spreading Robe.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. xi. 384 To see the dipping oars imprint the water, and to watch the spreading circles they left.
1828 J. Keble Christian Year (ed. 3) 379 Through the hallow'd air The spreading cloud of incense soar'd.
1851 J. Ruskin Stones of Venice I. ix. 111 The eye always requires, on a slender shaft, a more spreading capital than it does on a massy one.
1888 I. R. Baxley Prophet & Other Poems 52 So in the spreading circuit of that light Shall souls emerge.
1921 E. Ferber Girls viii. 154 Combed his thinning hair in careful wisps across the top of his head to hide the spreading bald spot.
2013 L. Billings Five Billion Years Solitude vii. 179 Large, heavy rocks that had been plucked up..on the crumbling undersides of spreading glaciers.
b. Of trees or plants.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > [adjective] > climbing, spreading, or creeping
running1548
spreading1560
flat1578
ramping1578
wandering1590
upcreeping1611
gadding1638
rambling1653
obsequious1657
reptant1657
scansive1657
scansory1657
procumbent1668
repent1669
scandenta1682
supine1686
scrambling1688
creeping1697
sarmentous1721
reptile1727
sarmentose1760
prostrate1773
trailing1785
decumbent1789
travelling1822
vagrant1827
sarmentaceous1830
humifuse1854
sarmentiferous1858
amphibryous1866
humistratous1880
climbing1882
clambering1883
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > tree or woody plant > characterized by habit > [adjective] > spreading
spreading1560
patulous1682
1560 Bible (Geneva) Ezek. xvii. 6 And it budded vp, and was like a spreading vine of lowe stature, whose branches turned toward it.
1595 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 3 v. ii. 14 Whose top branch ouerpeerd Ioues spreading tree.
1611 Bible (King James) Wisd. xvii. 18 A melodious noise of birdes among the spreading branches. View more context for this quotation
1637 J. Milton Comus 7 Here to lodge Vnder the spreading favour of these Pines.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 128 With spreading Planes he made a cool retreat. View more context for this quotation
1720 M. Prior Truth & Falsehood 11 Under a spreading beach They sat.
1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes (new ed.) I. iii. i. 14 Others..joy to plant the spreading grove.
1794 A. Radcliffe Myst. of Udolpho III. vii. 198 Beneath the dark and spreading branches.
1842 J. C. Loudon Suburban Horticulturist 531 A good bearer, a spreading tree.
1869 H. F. Tozer Res. Highlands of Turkey I. 292 [We] lay down to rest under a spreading ash-tree.
1884 A. W. Stirling Never Never Land 137 The poison bush..grows as a low spreading bush not more than about two feet high.
1903 Bull. Torrey. Bot. Club 30 634 A large shrub with spreading branches.
1951 J. L. Retzer et al. Soil Surv. Stockton Area, Calif. 9 The second growth..is now represented by the occasional large spreading oak common to the present landscape.
2009 I. Thomson Dead Yard xi. 137 A sign to the right..directed us through shrubs and spreading trees to a 1950s-era bungalow.
c. Botany. Of plant parts: growing or directed outwards; having branches extending outwards; well separated or pointing away from parts of the same kind.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > (defined by) distribution, arrangement, or position > [adjective] > spreading or divergent
spoky1551
patulous1657
spreading1682
patent1753
divaricate1788
pervious1789
straddling1796
1682 S. Gilbert Florists Vade-mecum 150 Spreading leaves standing forward from each other, of a pale red, streaked on the faces of the leaves,..the back-sides are all of a pale or whitish colour.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xxix. 460 Common Juniper has three spreading, pointed leaves coming out together, that are longer than the berry.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 166 Calyx 5-flowered: panicle spreading.
1841 Penny Cycl. XXI. 182/2 Five petals, which are usually spreading.
1859 A. Pratt Brit. Grasses & Sedges 43 When the spikelets are arranged on branches, it is a panicle; and this may either be spreading, as in the Quaking-grass.., or it may be so close as to be spike-like.
1890 Hardwicke's Sci.-gossip 26 275 Leaflets ovate, with long spreading hairs near the underside of the mid-rib.
1931 Bull.Torrey Bot. Club 58 217 R[hychanthera] Hookeri Naud...has a hispid stem, shorter and spreading sepals.
2011 Rodriguésia 62 859/2 Rhynchospora brevirostris is a slender plant with narrow, spreading leaves.
2. Forming names of plants that have an outward-growing, sprawling, lax, or prostrate habit.
ΚΠ
1548 W. Turner Names of Herbes sig. D.vijv Lactuca sessilis, in englishe spredynge Lettis.
1792 Bot. Mag. 5 150 (heading) Spreading Tagetes, or French Marigold.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. II. at Scorzonera Scorzonera residifolia,..Spreading Viper's-Grass.
1836 Penny Cycl. VI. 432/1 Cerasus prostrata, the spreading cherry.
1859 A. Pratt Brit. Grasses & Sedges 65 Spreading Millet-grass.
1905 Amer. Botanist 9 92 I learned the same thing in Nebraska for this species, and still more for the spreading nightshade (Solanum triflorum).
2015 T. Krupp tr. R. Goetz Crete 28 On the summit of Gingilos, at 2080 m, the Spreading Cherry is blooming.
3. That gradually becomes more scattered, dispersed, distributed, or disseminated.
a. Of a disease, pathological process, etc.: extending into adjacent tissue. Also: designating the property of extending in this way. Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > spreading or diffusion > [adjective] > spreading or diffusing > specifically of immaterial things
communicativea1398
ranging1556
spreading1560
communative1616
distributive1628
communitive1649
1560 Bible (Geneva) Lev. xiii. 57 If it appeare stil in the garment,..it is a spreading leprie.
1647 H. Hammond Of Power of Keyes v. 119 By the spreading, leprous quality of their example.
1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xxv. 319 The disposition to fresh ulceration of a spreading and intractable character.
1861 Med. & Surg. Reporter 6 226/1 The English, German, and Hollandish term ‘ring-worm’, combining two ideas, viz: the creeping or spreading quality of the disease, and its ring-form as well.
1897 W. Anderson On Surg. Treatm. Lupus 15 In large areas of lupus..the spreading edge may be excised.
1937 Mycologia 29 142 In an actively spreading lesion, the center of the necrotic spot is light brown, surrounded by a broad zonate area, the outer advancing zone of which is hydrotic.
1949 H. W. C. Vines Green's Man. Pathol. (ed. 17) ii. 18 On the other hand, spreading gangrene implies a spreading cause.
2004 Trail May 48/1 Cellulitis is an infection causing a spreading inflammation of tissue.
b. Of a condition, quality, emotion, effect, practice, news, information, a rumour, fame, etc.
ΚΠ
1619 Proclam. James I. Tobacco 30 Dec. (single sheet) Wee therefore intending in time to prouide a remedie for this spreading euill, which hath in a very few yeares dispersed it selfe into most parts of Our Kingdomes [etc.].
a1647 T. Habington Surv. Worcs. (Worcs. Hist. Soc.) (1895) I. iii. 424 The worthy and large spreadinge family of the Throckmortons.
1652 A. Grosse (title) A fiery pillar of heavenly truth: shewing the way to a blessed life. Composed by way of catechism, for the preservation of God's people from the spreading evils and pernicious inchantments of Papism.
1711 A. Pope Ess. Crit. 24 Some ne'er advance a Judgment of their own, But catch the Spreading Notion of the Town.
1746 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Satires ii. viii. 98 From bed to bed the spreading whisper flies.
1768 J. Cranwell tr. M. Vida Christiad iii. 197 But lo! e'er yet the social banquet ceas'd, A spreading rumour thro' the dome encreas'd.
1845 Prospective Rev. 1 107 The old and genuine friends of the poor rejoice in the spreading sense of Duty on this matter.
1903 D. M. Dewitt Impeachment & Trial Andrew Johnson ii. 209 The lame conclusion..strengthened the spreading belief that the whole movement was fatuous as well as futile.
1934 H. G. Wells Exper. in Autobiogr. II. vii. 436 The spreading knowledge of birth-control..seemed to justify my contention that love was now to be taken more lightly than it had been in the past.
2007 Lat. Amer. Special Rep. (Nexis) 12 July Their inaugural declaration..embraces the spreading mood which rejects ‘indigenism’ as representing the paternalism of the non-indigenous.
Compounds
C1. Forming parasynthetic adjectives designating plants or plant organs with spreading parts (see sense 1c), as spreading-flowered, spreading-leaved, etc.
ΚΠ
1657 J. Davies tr. H. D'Urfé Astrea I. 195 Under yond spreading leaved tree,..Purest vermilion there did seek For harbour in her lovely cheek.
1789 W. Aiton Hortus Kewensis I. 1 Spreading-flowered Indian Reed.
1831 G. Don Gen. Syst. Gardening & Bot. I. 685/2 C[hisocheton] patens.., leaflets oblong; panicles spreading, much branched... Spreading-panicled Chisocheton.
1846–50 A. Wood Class-bk. Bot. 194 Talinum patens, Spreading-flowered Talinum.
1894 Gardeners' Chron. 13 Jan. 49/2 By spreading-petalled flowers is meant such as have long spreading florets which only slightly incurve at the points.
1960 L. Abrams Illustr. Flora Pacific States IV. 322 Heads small, usually numerous and racemosely arranged on the arching branches on short, minutely spreading-bracted branchlets.
1992 R. Long Under Baobab Tree 161 When it's the rainy season, most people use the large spreading-fingered leaves of the ‘fan’ palm-tree to keep the rain off their heads.
2011 Castanea 76 1002 H. setosum..least resembles the relatively tall, axillary branching, and long- and spreading-leaved H. radfordium.
C2.
spreading adder n. U.S. a hognose snake (genus Heterodon), which characteristically raises its head and flattens and expands its neck when threatened; = puff adder n. 2; cf. spread adder n. at spread adj. Compounds 2, spread head n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > reptiles > order Squamata (lizards and snakes) > suborder Ophidia (snakes) > types of snake > [noun] > family Colubridae > member of genus Heterodon (hog-nose)
hognose1737
hog-nosed snake?a1808
spreading adder1836
adder1842
spread head1844
puff adder1882
blowing adder1884
spread adder1902
1836 Ann. Lyceum Nat. Hist. N.Y. 3 174 I heard..tales of various reptiles; of the dangerous bite of the cotton-mouth, the moccason, the spreading adder, and many other snakes.
1931 W. Faulkner in Amer. Mercury Mar. 261/2 Her mouth pursed out like a spreading adder's, like a rubber mouth.
2008 J. Gill in Harvard Rev. 116 The spreading adder was not poisonous, but it terrified us.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.OEadj.1532