{
    "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."
}