spread-eagle

/'spred'i:gl/

Thân thiện

He performed a perfect spread-eagle on the ice.

Definition

1. Adjective:

   • With limbs fully extended and apart: Describes a position where a person's arms and legs are stretched out wide, often resembling the shape of an eagle with its wings spread.
   • Boastful or jingoistic: Characterized by loud, excessive, and arrogant patriotism, especially regarding the perceived superiority of the United States.

2. Verb:

   • To position with limbs outstretched: To force or arrange someone or something into a spread-eagle position.
   • To stretch or extend over a wide area: To cover or span a large area.
   • To defeat decisively or humiliate: To vanquish an opponent thoroughly.
   • To execute a specific skating maneuver: In ice skating, to perform a move where the skater glides with legs and arms extended to the sides.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:

  • He was found spread-eagle on the floor after the accident.
  • The politician's spread-eagle rhetoric was criticized as overly nationalistic.

• Verb:

  • The guards spread-eagled the prisoner against the wall for a search.
  • His business interests spread-eagle the entire continent.
  • The home team was spread-eagled in the championship game, losing by 30 points.
  • The figure skater spread-eagled gracefully across the ice.

Advanced Usage

• "to lie spread-eagled": To be lying down with arms and legs stretched out.
  • Exhausted, she lay spread-eagled on the grass, staring at the sky.

Variants and Related Words

• Spread-eagled (adj): The more common adjectival form, describing the physical position.
  • The spread-eagled figure was clearly visible from above.

Synonyms

• Adjective (position): Outstretched, splayed, star-shaped.
• Adjective (boastful): Jingoistic, chauvinistic, flag-waving, bombastic.
• Verb (to position): Splay, stretch out, pinion.
• Verb (to defeat): Trounce, rout, crush, demolish.

Related Phrases

• "spread-eagle fashion": In the manner of being spread-eagled.
  • He fell spread-eagle fashion onto the mat.

Idioms

• "to go spread-eagle": To fall or lie down in a spread-eagle position.
  • He tripped on the rug and went spread-eagle across the hallway.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. with arms and legs stretched out and apart
   • lay spread-eagle on the floor

Verb

1. defeat disastrously
2. stand with arms and legs spread out
3. execute a spread eagle on skates, with arms and legs stretched out
4. stretch over
   • His residences spread-eagle the entire county
5. stretch out completely
   • They spread-eagled him across the floor

Từ đồng nghĩa

• spreadeagle
• rout