spraddle

Meaning

Verb

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

Noun

A manner of walking with the legs spread out.

Synonyms

sprawl

straddle

Translations

spreiden

Hyphenated as

sprad‧dle

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈspɹædl̩/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: *spraddelen

Inherited from Middle English: spradden

Inherited from Old English: sprǣdan

In summary

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”).