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Definition of "spread-eagle" []

  • Positioned with the arms and legs stretched out. (adjective)
  • Informal Full of patriotic or jingoistic rhetoric. (adjective)
  • To place in a spread-eagle position, especially as a means of punishment. (verb-transitive)
  • To assume a spread-eagle position. (verb-intransitive)
  • To make a grandiloquent, patriotic speech. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "spread-eagle" in a sentence
  • "I made the mistake of agreeing to be on local 10 o'clock news to discuss the Target snow angel ad (with the woman laying spread-eagle on the bullseye logo)."
  • "One group got picked up, and when the last guy, in a suit and tie, couldn't fit in the car, he laid spread-eagle on the hood and the car took off with him."
  • "Proving the adage that no good turn goes unpunished, Kate took the inevitable spill and wound up sprawled spread-eagle on the floor."