word-vault

{ "term": "spread", "partOfSpeech": "verb", "ox3000": true, "cefr": "b1", "verbForms": { "presentSimple": { "iYouWeThey": "spread", "heSheIt": "spreads" }, "pastSimple": "spread", "pastParticiple": "spread", "ingForm": "spreading" }, "definitions": [ { "senseNumber": 1, "definition": "to affect or make something affect, be known by, or be used by more and more people", "sensetop": "+ adv./prep.spread something", "cefr": "b1", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "The news had spread and was causing great excitement." }, { "text": "Use of computers **spread rapidly** during that period.", "contextForm": "+ adv./prep." }, { "text": "Within weeks, his confidence had spread throughout the team." }, { "text": "The disease spreads easily." }, { "text": "The idea **spread quickly** in the years that followed." }, { "text": "Someone's been **spreading rumours** about you.", "contextForm": "spread something" }, { "text": "He's using his rap music to **spread the message** that violence is wrong." }, { "text": "The **disease is spread** by mosquitoes." }, { "text": "The virus is primarily spread from person to person through coughing and sneezing." }, { "text": "The depression started in the US and spread quickly throughout the world." }, { "text": "His fame had spread far and wide." }, { "text": "The disease can be spread by contact." }, { "text": "I wish he would stop spreading lies about me." }, { "text": "The effects of this policy spread far beyond children now at school." } ], "topics": ["Health problems"], "collocations": { "adverb": ["fast", "like wildfire", "quickly"], "preposition": ["(all) across", "among", "around"], "phrases": ["be thinly spread", "spread yourself too thin"] } }, { "senseNumber": 2, "definition": "to cover, or to make something cover, a larger and larger area", "sensetop": "+ adv./prep.spread something", "cefr": "b1", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "There is no evidence that the cancer has spread." }, { "text": "The fire rapidly spread to adjoining buildings.", "contextForm": "+ adv./prep." }, { "text": "Water began to spread across the floor." }, { "text": "A smile spread slowly across her face." }, { "text": "Allow plenty of space for this plant as its roots spread widely." }, { "text": "A strong wind spread the flames.", "contextForm": "spread something" }, { "text": "Using too much water could spread the stain." } ], "collocations": { "adverb": ["fast", "like wildfire", "quickly"], "preposition": ["(all) across", "among", "around"], "phrases": ["be thinly spread", "spread yourself too thin"] } }, { "senseNumber": 3, "definition": "to cause somebody/something to be in a number of different places", "sensetop": "spread somebody/something", "cefr": "b1", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "Seeds and pollen are spread by the wind." }, { "text": "We have 10 000 members spread all over the country." }, { "text": "Expertise in this field is very thinly spread across the country." }, { "text": "Friends may be spread geographically. Neighbours, by definition, are nearby." } ], "collocations": { "adverb": ["fast", "like wildfire", "quickly"], "preposition": ["(all) across", "among", "around"], "phrases": ["be thinly spread", "spread yourself too thin"] } }, { "senseNumber": 4, "definition": "to cover a large area", "sensetop": "spread (out) + adv./prep.", "examples": [ { "text": "The valley spread out beneath us." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 5, "definition": "to put a layer of a substance onto the surface of something; to be able to be put onto a surface", "sensetop": "spread somethingspread (A on/over B)spread (B with A)", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "They spread manure in both spring and autumn.", "contextForm": "spread something" }, { "text": "to spread butter on pieces of toast", "contextForm": "spread (A on/over B)" }, { "text": "Birds spread the oil over their feathers to keep them warm and dry." }, { "text": "pieces of toast spread with butter", "contextForm": "spread (B with A)" }, { "text": "If the paint is too thick, it will not spread evenly." }, { "text": "He spread jam on the toast." }, { "text": "Spread each slice generously with butter." }, { "text": "If the paint is too thick, it will not spread easily." }, { "text": "She spread butter on a piece of toast." }, { "text": "Spread the cake with cream and then sprinkle flakes of chocolate on top." } ], "topics": ["Cooking and eating"], "collocations": { "adverb": ["thickly", "lightly", "thinly"], "preposition": ["on", "with"] } }, { "senseNumber": 6, "definition": "to open something that has been folded so that it covers a larger area than before", "sensetop": "spread something (out)spread something (out) on/over somethingspread something + adj.", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "The bird spread its wings.", "contextForm": "spread something (out)" }, { "text": "a bird with its wings spread wide" }, { "text": "They spread a cloth on the table.", "contextForm": "spread something (out) on/over something" }, { "text": "Sue spread the map out on the floor." }, { "text": "We spread the rug out on the floor." }, { "text": "He spread the blanket over the straw and went to sleep." }, { "text": "He had a newspaper spread open on his knee.", "contextForm": "spread something + adj." } ], "collocations": { "adverb": ["carefully", "out"], "preposition": ["across", "on", "over"], "phrases": [ "spread something open", "spread your arms, legs, etc. out wide", "spread your arms, legs, etc. wide" ] } }, { "senseNumber": 7, "definition": "to arrange objects so that they cover a large area and can be seen easily", "sensetop": "spread something out on/over somethingspread something out", "cefr": "b2", "ox3000": true, "examples": [ { "text": "Papers had been spread out on the desk.", "contextForm": "spread something out on/over something" }, { "text": "She spread out photographs of her grandchildren so I could see how they'd grown.", "contextForm": "spread something out" }, { "text": "He was studying the various pages of notes spread over the quilt." }, { "text": "He shuffled the cards and spread them in a fan." } ], "collocations": { "adverb": ["carefully", "out"], "preposition": ["across", "on", "over"], "phrases": [ "spread something open", "spread your arms, legs, etc. out wide", "spread your arms, legs, etc. wide" ] } }, { "senseNumber": 8, "definition": "to place the thumb and a finger of one hand on the screen of an electronic device such as a mobile phone or small computer and move them apart to make the image on the screen larger, as though it is closer", "examples": [ { "text": "Re-size the text by using the pinch and spread gestures on the screen." } ] }, { "senseNumber": 9, "definition": "to move your arms, legs, fingers, etc. far apart from each other", "sensetop": "spread something (out)", "examples": [ { "text": "She spread her arms and the child ran towards her." } ], "collocations": { "adverb": ["carefully", "out"], "preposition": ["across", "on", "over"], "phrases": [ "spread something open", "spread your arms, legs, etc. out wide", "spread your arms, legs, etc. wide" ] } }, { "senseNumber": 10, "definition": "to separate something into parts and divide them between different times or different people", "sensetop": "spread somethingspread something (out) (over something)spread something between somebody/something", "examples": [ { "text": "Why not pay monthly and spread the cost of your car insurance?", "contextForm": "spread something" }, { "text": "A series of five interviews will be spread over two days.", "contextForm": "spread something (out) (over something)" }, { "text": "The course takes forty hours, spread over twenty weeks." }, { "text": "We attempted to spread the workload between the departments.", "contextForm": "spread something between somebody/something" }, { "text": "We tried to spread the workload evenly between the departments." } ], "collocations": { "adverb": ["equally", "evenly", "uniformly"], "verb + spread": ["try to"], "preposition": ["among", "between", "over"] } }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to become known by more and more people very quickly", "examples": [ { "text": "Rumours of his death spread like wildfire." }, { "text": "The news spread like wildfire." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to consider a wide range of possibilities or cover a large area, especially to try to find somebody/something", "examples": [ { "text": "They have spread their net far and wide in the search for a new team coach." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to become more independent and confident and try new activities, etc.", "examples": [ { "text": "Going to college gave her the chance to spread her wings." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to tell people about something", "examples": [ { "text": "I'm always trying to spread the word about healthy eating." } ] }, { "senseNumber": null, "definition": "to try to do so many different things at the same time that you do not do any of them well", "examples": [ { "text": "With four markets to manage, there's a danger that's she's spreading herself too thin." } ] } ], "pronunciations": { "uk": [ { "pronunciation": "/spred/", "audio": "sp/spread/spread__gb_2.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/spredz/", "audio": "sp/spread/spreads__gb_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/ˈspredɪŋ/", "audio": "sp/spread/spreading__gb_1.mp3" } ], "us": [ { "pronunciation": "/spred/", "audio": "sp/spread/spread__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/spredz/", "audio": "sp/spread/spreads__us_1.mp3" }, { "pronunciation": "/ˈspredɪŋ/", "audio": "sp/spread/spreading__us_1.mp3" } ] }, "wordOrigin": "Old English -sprǣdan (used in combinations), of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch spreiden and German spreiten." }