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Spread-eagle   /sprɛd-ˈigəl/   Listen
verb
spread-eagle  v. i.  To assume a spread-eagled position; it may be done reclining, for relaxation, or momentarily, as an exhibitionary maneuver in a sport.



adjective
spread-eagle  adj.  Characterized by a pretentious, boastful, exaggerated style; defiantly or extravagantly bombastic, especially regarding of the greatness of the U. S.; as, a spread-eagle orator; a spread-eagle speech. (Colloq. & Humorous)






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Spread-eagle" Quotes from Famous Books



... said it reminded him of Jack Sheppard! And not such a bad Chatterton-compound either! But I begin to think I have said all this before.... Oliver, or "Nolly," as he was always called, was a sort of spread-eagle likeness of his handsome father, with a conical head like Walter Scott. I must confess to you, that, in this world of books, the only one of his I have read, is Gabriel Denver, afterwards reprinted in its original and superior form as The ...
— Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti - 1883 • T. Hall Caine

... necessaries should be administered to him. Whereunto is added a treatise upon the nature and substance of Spirits and Divels &c., all written and published in Anno 1584. By Reginald Scot, Esquire. Printed by R.C. and are to be sold by Giles Calvert dwelling at the Black Spread-Eagle, at the West-End of ...
— Among My Books - First Series • James Russell Lowell

... bedstead was a marvel in size and massiveness, and the heavy mahogany posts nearly black with age, and carved like the twisted strands of a rope, supported a tester lined with turkey-red pleatings, held in the centre by the talons of a gilt spread-eagle. So tall was the bed, that three steps were required to ascend it, and the space thus left between the mahogany and the floor, was hidden by a valance of white dimity, garnished with wide cotton fringe. Over this spacious place of repose, a patchwork quilt of the "rising sun" ...
— At the Mercy of Tiberius • August Evans Wilson

... too, with a quick folding motion of the legs, drawn up and turned to one side with a sidelong twist of the body. I remembered the sprawling spread-eagle way in which some of the fellows used to come over the line—and tried to learn the trick. We did not easily catch up with ...
— Herland • Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman

... children gazed with wonder and delight upon his bright buttons, each of which had an astonishing spread-eagle engraved upon it, and thought they could never admire enough the beautiful gold lace upon his coat-sleeves. Really, he was ...
— The Fairy Nightcaps • Frances Elizabeth Barrow


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