spraddle

/ˈspɹædl̩/

spraddle means A manner of walking with the legs spread out.

Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, spraddle ranks #2,167 of 42,747 for Qualifying.

spraddle is pronounced /ˈspɹædl̩/.

Etymology

Uncertain; possibly from sprad, an obsolete dialectal past participle of spread; or a blend of sprawl + straddle or spread + straddle, or perhaps from Middle English *spraddelen; a frequentative form of Middle English spradden, spraden, sprēden (“to lay flat, spread; to distribute, scatter, sow”), from Old English sprǣdan (“to expand, spread; to outspread, stretch forth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)per- (“to sow, sprinkle, strew”), equivalent to spread + -le. Compare also dialectal Norwegian spradla (“to flail, squirm, thrash about”).

noun

A manner of walking with the legs spread out.

verb

To spread apart (the legs).
To spread apart the legs of (someone or something).
To lie, move, or stand with legs spread.

Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Words closest in meaning

By meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.

sprawl 78% match — To sit with the limbs spread out. vs spraddle →
sprattle 77% match — To scramble. vs spraddle →
spraddlelegged 76% match — that has spraddled legs vs spraddle →
sprangle 72% match — To sprawl or straggle. vs spraddle →
strideleg 70% match — To straddle. vs spraddle →
outspread 67% match — To spread out; expand; extend. vs spraddle →
splaying 67% match — A shape or motion that splays. vs spraddle →
dispread 67% match — To spread out, to extend. vs spraddle →