A Quick and Simple Dictionary

spread

1. Verb.  (transitive) To stretch out, open out (a material etc.) so that it more fully covers a given area of space. (defdate, from 13th c.) .
2. Verb.  (transitive) To extend (individual rays, limbs etc.); to stretch out in varying or opposing directions. (defdate, from 13th c.) .
3. Verb.  (transitive) To disperse, to scatter or distribute over a given area. (defdate, from 13th c.) .
4. Verb.  (intransitive) To proliferate; to become more widely present, to be disseminated. (defdate, from 13th c.) .
5. Verb.  (transitive) To disseminate; to cause to proliferate, to make (something) widely known or present. (defdate, from 14th c.) .
6. Verb.  (intransitive) To take up a larger area or space; to expand, be extended. (defdate, from 14th c.) .
7. Verb.  (transitive) To smear, to distribute in a thin layer. (defdate, from 16th c.) .
8. Verb.  (transitive) To cover (something) with a thin layer of some substance, as of butter. (defdate, from 16th c.) .
9. Verb.  (intransitive, slang) To open one’s legs. (defdate, from 20th c.) .
10. Noun.  The act of spreading or something that has been spread.
11. Noun.  An expanse of land.
12. Noun.  A piece of material used as a cover (such as a bedspread).
13. Noun.  A large meal, especially one laid out on a table.
14. Noun.  (context, bread, etc.) Any form of food designed to be spread such as butters or jams.
15. Noun.  An item in a newspaper or magazine that occupies more than one column or page.
16. Noun.  A numerical difference.
17. Noun.  (business, economics) The difference between the wholesale and retail prices.
18. Noun.  (trading, economics) The difference between the price of a futures month and the price of another month of the same commodity.
19. Noun.  (trading, finance) The purchase of a futures contract of one delivery month against the sale of another futures delivery month of the same commodity.
20. Noun.  (trading, finance) The purchase of one delivery month of one commodity against the sale of that same delivery month of a different commodity.
21. Noun.  (trading) An arbitrage transaction of the same commodity in two markets, executed to take advantage of a profit from price discrepancies.
22. Noun.  (trading) The difference between bidding and asking price.
23. Noun.  (finance) The difference between the prices of two similar items.