spraddlev.
Now chiefly dialect and U.S.
1. intransitive. To sprawl.
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the world > movement > motion in specific manner > irregular movement or agitation > move irregularly or be agitated [verb (intransitive)] > roll or tumble about > of persons or animals > lie struggling
sprawlc1000
sprantle1390
sprangle14..
spraddle1632
spartle1710
grabble1736
spurl1821
sprottle1829
1632 [see spraddling adj. at Derivatives].
1864 R. D. Blackmore Clara Vaughan I. ii. vi. 191 So those two were allowed to spraddle on the floor.
1889 Temple Bar LXXXV. 2 About the floor..spraddled forms of deal.
2. transitive. To spread or stretch (one's legs, etc.) wide apart. Also transferred.
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the world > space > relative position > posture > position of specific body parts > position specific body part [verb (transitive)] > legs or feet
stride13..
overstride?a1513
straddle1565
bestridea1616
plait1616
plet1619
bestraddle1807
straddle1823
spraddle1913
1913 J. London Son of Sun vii. 241 He stood with legs spraddled over a large grass basket.
1928 ‘Brent of Bin Bin’ Up Country xv. 264 As she walked she spraddled the off hind hoof.
1929 ‘Seamark’ Down River i. 6 Let this decrepit tub of yours spraddle her old legs a little faster.
3. The verb-stem in combination with participial adjectives, to form adjectives, as spraddle-footed, spraddle-hipped, spraddle-legged. U.S.
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1935 Z. N. Hurston Mules & Men i. viii. 177 Don't set there all spraddle-legged.
1974 D. Sears Lark in Clear Air ii. 33 They were big, old, spraddle-hipped, spavined bays with a lot of Clyde in them.
1975 J. Gores Hammett (1976) xiv. 102 The boy stood spraddle-footed on the porch.
Derivatives
ˈspraddled adj. (see also quot. 1927). Also with out.
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1926 E. Hemingway Sun also Rises xviii. 230 They held him and lifted him. It was uncomfortable and his legs were spraddled.
1927 Amer. Speech Dec. 169 To put on airs or be dudishly dressed was to be ‘all spraddled out’.
1930 D. Runyon in Collier's 1 Feb. 46/2 Down he comes all spraddled out.
1940 Harper's Mag. Oct. 513/2 Every now and then a nigger would come flying out and go sailing through the air..spraddled like a flying squirrel.
1975 J. Gores Hammett (1976) xxxii. 221 Laverty's right knee pumped, twice, up between Lynch's spraddled legs.
ˈspraddling adj.
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1632 F. Quarles Divine Fancies i. iv O! what a ravishment 't had beene..To see thy busie Fingers cloathe and wrappe His spradling Limbs in thy indulgent Lappe!
1898 H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 89 He rode with the spraddling seat of a man more accustomed to the plow than to the scout's saddle.
1935 L. A. G. Strong Tuesday Afternoon 83 Between his spraddling knees he had spread a clean white napkin.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1914; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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