splay
/spleɪ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.09 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "Thiſſame ſo great a chaunge of the world, begoonne within a fewe yeares after Chriſt was putte to death, to be made generall and common through al the whold worlde, and withoute any maintenaunce or ſupportacion of mã [man], it encreaced from tyme to tyme ſtill more and more, vntyll the piece of leauen beeyng miengled in three peckes of meale did leauen and turne al the whole batche, and vntill the graine of muſtard ſeed beeyng digged into the yearth, did ferre and wyde ſpleigh his boughes abrode ouer Aſia, ouer Afrike, and Europe."
- "The Lydian maiden in her web did portray to her full / […] / Aſteriee ſtruggling with an Erne which did away hir beare, / And ouer Leda ſhe had made a Swan his wings to ſplay."
- "The tracks are laid with the inner rails only 10 in. apart, except at the half way point (North Walk) where they are splayed out to allow the cars to pass."
- "At Hounslow, the existing running lines would need splaying to create two turnback sidings inbetween ^([sic]) them, to help accommodate the planned service of 4tph."
- "When entrance and egress [through a door] are constant, it may be supposed that the valves will be absent or unfastened,—that people will be passing more quickly than when the entrance and egress are unfrequent, and that the square angles of the wall will be inconvenient to such quick passers through. […] [T]hese angles, which would be worn away by friction, should at once be bevelled off, or, as it is called, splayed, and the most contracted part of the aperture made as short as possible, […]"
- "Ye grounde yow vpon Godfrey, that grysly gargons face, / Your stondarde, Syr Olifranke, agenst me for to splay: […]"
Etymology
PIE word *dwís The verb is derived from Middle English splaien, splayen (“to display; to spread out, unfurl (a flag, etc.); (cooking) to cut open (a fish) lengthwise and lay it open; (figurative) to appear; to spread”), an aphetic form of Middle English displaien, displayen (“to display”): see display. The adjective and adverb are derived from the verb, or from splayfoot (noun) or splayfooted (adjective). The noun is derived from the verb.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /spleɪ/
- British English: /spleɪ/
Usage
Inflected Forms
splays (present, singular)
splaying (participle, present)
splayed (participle, past)
splayed (past)
more splay (comparative)
most splay (superlative)
splays (plural)