Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Sprawl |
SprawlNoun1. An ungainly posture with arms and legs spread about. Verb1. Sit or lie with one's limbs spread out. 2. Go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way; "Branches straggling out quite far". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "sprawl" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1819. (references) |
Note: Sprawl \Sprawl\ (spr[add]l), intransitive verb. [imperative past participle Sprawled (spr[add]ld); present participle verb or noun Sprawling.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Environment | Unplanned development of open land. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Synonyms: SprawlSynonyms: sprawling (n), straggle (v). (additional references) |
| Synonyms by domain: sprawls (public administration). |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Descent | Tumble, trip, stumble, lurch, pitch, swag, topple, topple over, tumble over, topple down, tumble down; tilt, sprawl, plump down, come down a cropper. |
Horizontality | Verb: be horizontal; Adjective: lie, recline, couch; lie down, lie flat, lie prostrate; sprawl, loll, sit down. |
Length | Verb: be long; Adjective: stretch out, sprawl; extend to, reach to, stretch to; make a long arm, "drag its slow length along." |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Sprawl |
| English words defined with "sprawl": Grabble ♦ Scamble, subtopia. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "sprawl": tortoise ♦ Zeal. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "sprawl": Spurling-line. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Urban sprawl and water use in Las Vegas, Clark County, NV. Credit: Lynn Betts. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "War_kills_hope" by archgimp Commentary: "Saw this graffiti on some of the urban sprawl on the way home from work - the setting made me smile." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | TORTOISE, n. A creature thoughtfully created to supply occasion for the following lines by the illustrious Ambat Delaso: TO MY PET TORTOISE My friend, you are not graceful -- not at all; Your gait's between a stagger and a sprawl. Nor are you beautiful: your head's a snake's To look at, and I do not doubt it aches. As to your feet, they'd make an angel weep. 'Tis true you take them in whene'er you sleep. No, you're not pretty, but you have, I own, A certain firmness -- mostly you're [sic] backbone. Firmness and strength (you have a giant's thews) Are virtues that the great know how to use -- I wish that they did not; yet, on the whole, You lack -- excuse my mentioning it -- Soul. So, to be candid, unreserved and true, I'd rather you were I than I were you. Perhaps, however, in a time to be, When Man's extinct, a better world may see Your progeny in power and control, Due to the genesis and growth of Soul. So I salute you as a reptile grand Predestined to regenerate the land. Father of Possibilities, O deign To accept the homage of a dying reign! In the far region of the unforeknown I dream a tortoise upon every throne. I see an Emperor his head withdraw Into his carapace for fear of Law; A King who carries something else than fat, Howe'er acceptably he carries that; A President not strenuously bent On punishment of audible dissent -- Who never shot (it were a vain attack) An armed or unarmed tortoise in the back; Subject and citizens that feel no need To make the March of Mind a wild stampede; All progress slow, contemplative, sedate, And "Take your time" the word, in Church and State. O Tortoise, 'tis a happy, happy dream, My glorious testudinous regime! I wish in Eden you'd brought this about By slouching in and chasing Adam out. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Sprawl" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 78.35% of the time. "Sprawl" is used about 97 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 78.35% | 76 | 38,217 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 13.4% | 13 | 97,576 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 8.25% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Total | 100.00% | 97 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "sprawl": sprawl out ♦ urban sprawl. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
urban sprawl | 86 |
sprawl | 47 |
b great sprawl | 15 |
suburban sprawl | 11 |
sprawl busters | 5 |
housing sprawl | 4 |
picture of urban sprawl | 4 |
growth sprawl | 4 |
shorts sprawl | 4 |
against role sprawl transit urban | 3 |
city sprawl | 3 |
anti sprawl | 2 |
definition sprawl urban | 2 |
hit sprawl wall | 2 |
statistics on urban sprawl | 2 |
sprawl transit urban | 2 |
busters.com sprawl | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "sprawl"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | shtrihem sa gjatë gjerë, plandosem (plump), hap këmbët (straddle). (various references) | |
Arabic | تمدد (dilate, dilation, elongation, expansion, lie, recline, spread, stretch, stretching), سقط (bring down, cave, come off, dip, dive, down, drop, drop out, failed, fall, go by the board, settle, skip, spill, squirt, topple, trip, tumble), إمتد (be extended, be prolonged, continue, elongate, expand, extend, lengthen, pervade, range, reach, spread, stretch), إنبطح (grovel, prostrate), إسترخى (dangle, laze, loll, lounge, refresh, relax, unbend, unbuckle, unwind). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | разпръснато застроена площ, разпиляна група, отпусната поза, просвам се (grabble), пльосвам се (fall flat, flop), изтягане, изтягам се. (various references) | |
Chinese | 匍匐 (Sprawls). (various references) | |
Czech | svíjet se (wriggle, writhe), rozrùstat se (ramify), protáhnout si údy, lézt (climb, crawl, worm). (various references) | |
Danish | urbanisering (expansion of built-up areas, urban sprawl, urbanization), udvidelse af bymaessig bebyggelse (expansion of built-up areas, urban sprawl), planløs spredning af bebyggelse i åbent land (urban sprawl), byvaekst (urban expansion, urban extension, urban growth, urban sprawl), byudvikling (urban expansion, urban extension, urban growth, urban sprawl, urbanization), byudvidelse (urban expansion, urban extension, urban growth, urban sprawl), byspredning (urban expansion, urban extension, urban growth, urban sprawl). (various references) | |
Dutch | uitstrooiing. (various references) | |
Farsi | پهن نشستن , پراکندگی (Dispersal), هرزه روءیدن (Straggle), گشادنشستن (Scrawl, Straddle), بی پروادرازکشیدن یانشستن , بطورغیرمنظم پخش شدن . (various references) | |
Finnish | maata retkottaa (loll), loikoilla (lie out-stretched, loll). (various references) | |
French | s'affaler, s'étendre (spread), s'étaler (spread), faire tomber, extension désordonnée, extension anarchique, desserrement. (various references) | |
German | Streuung (dispersal, dispersion, mean variation, scattering, spread), sich lümmeln (flop down, lounge, slouch), sich flegeln (loll), sich fläzen, sich ausbreiten (break forth, extend, propagate, spread, spread oneself out, spread out, stretch, stretch out, unfold, unroll), lümmeln (loll), flegeln, ausgestreckt sitzen, ausgestreckt liegen, ausbreitung (amplification, diffusion, spread, spreading). (various references) | |
Greek | ξαπλώνομαι (stretch out), εξαπλώνομαι (expand, lie), απλώνομαι (range wide, spread, spread spread spread), απλωσιά, τεντώνω (crane, distend, strain, stretch, tense), τεντώνομαι (draw up, stretch). (various references) | |
Hebrew | להתפרקד (lie on the back), להשתרע (extend, spread, stretch), השתרעות (extending, outstretching, spreading). (various references) | |
Hungarian | terpeszkedés (sprawling). (various references) | |
Indonesian | menggeletak. (various references) | |
Italian | stravaccarsi, sdraiarsi scompostamente, stravaccarsi, posizione scomposta, massa disordinata, espandersi (boom, expand, spread), distendersi (distend, lay over, stretch, thaw), crescere disordinatamente, cadere scompostamente. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | スプロール現象 (space, space colony, space fantasy, space gun, Space Lab, space opera, space plane, space ship, space shuttle, space telescope, space travel, spacecraft, spaceman, spacing, spade, spare, spare rib, spare seat, spare tire, spear, spectrum analyzer, sword), スプリンクラー設備 (splint, spray, spray gun, spread, spring, spring camp, spring coat, springboard, sprinkler system, sprint, sprinter). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | スプロールげんしょう, スプロール . (various references) | |
Manx | surlley (sprawling, tumble), surllaghey. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | awlspray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | estatelar-se, espalhar (bestrew, blow, buzz, diffuse, disperse, disseminate, distribute, drift, drop, flecker, fleece, fling, intersperse, noise, overblow, overspread, promulgate, propagate, publish, put about, retail, rumor, rumour, run through, scatter, send, sow, spill, spread, stretch, strew), escarrapachar-se. (various references) | |
Romanian | sta tolãnit (lounge), se rostogoli (bowl, roll, trundle, tumble), se lãţi (widen), se întinde (elongate, extend, lie down, make, range, reach, recline, recoil, run, set off, spindle, spread, stretch, sweep), tolãnire, tolãni, rãşchira, lãbãrţare, desface (cleave, disassemble, disconnect, disentangle, dismantle, dissolve, free, knock down, loose, loosen, open, outstretch, pick up, pry, sever, spread, unbind, uncouple, undo, unfold, unfurl, unlace, unloose, unravel, unrig, untie), crãcãna (straddle), întinde (arrange, couch, dilate, draw, expand, extend, fling out, hang, lay on, lengthen, outspread, outstretch, pull, pull up, reach, set, spread, stretch, strew, tauten, tighten, widen). (various references) | |
Russian | растягиваться (strain, stretch), растянуться (overreach), развалиться (loll), разлечься. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | opružiti (stretch), širenje (dissemination, eradiation, propagation, spread, spreading, widening). (various references) | |
Spanish | yacer (lie, lying, sit, take from), tumbarse (lay down, lie down, tumble), postura desgarbada, extensión (compass, duration, elongation, expanse, expansion, extending, extension, extensiveness, extent, extortion, incidence, largeness, length, outgrowth, outspread, range, reach, renewal, scale, scope, size, spaciousness, span, spread, spreading, stretch, stretching, sweep), arrellanarse (loll, settle, sink, spread oneself). (various references) | |
Swedish | sprida (bestrew, circulate, cirkulate, deploy, diffuse, disject, disperse, distribute, emit, hawk about, proliferate, propagate, put about, radiate, send out, shed, spread, stagger), spreta, vräkig stälning, vräka sig (loll), vildvuxen utbredning, ligga och vräka sig, drumla omkull (fall over), drulla omkull (fall over). (various references) | |
Thai | เมืองที่ขยายออกไปรอบนอก, นอนกางแขนกางขา, การนอนกางแขนกางขา. (various references) | |
Turkish | serilmek, serilme, sereserpe uzanmak (outstretch), yayılmak (be out at grass, be rife, branch, circulate, diffuse, disperse, effuse, emanate, expand, fan, fan out, get about, get around, get round, go, grow rife, loll, lounge, mushroom, outstretch, overspread, permeate, pervade, ramble, ramp, resound, scatter, splay, spread, spread oneself, spread out, stretch, unfold), yayılma (contagion, creep, creepage, deploy, deployment, diffusion, dispersal, distribution, enlargement, expanse, expansiveness, metastasis, pervasion, propagation, spread, suffusion), yayılarak oturmak, uzanmak (be couched, be ranging to the, grasp at, hand up, kip, kip down, lie, lie down, loll, lounge, outstretch, range, reach, reach forth, reach out, reach out for, recline, repose oneself, rest, run, run along, skirt along, snatch at, spread), genişlemek (broaden, dilate, enlarge, expand, extend, flare, splay, spread out, widen, yawn), gelişigüzel yayılan topluluk, dağılma (breakup, creepage, diffusibility, diffusion, disbandment, disintegration, dispersal, dispersion, dissolution, distribution, spread, tapping). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | розтягтися, розкидатися (spread oneself), незграбний рух (foozle), незгарабна поза. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | sự nằm dài ra, sự nằm ườn ra, tư thế uể oải sự vươn vai. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Middle English | 1100-1500 | scrawlen. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "sprawl": sprawled, sprawler, sprawlers, sprawlier, sprawliest, sprawling, sprawls, sprawly. (additional references) | |
| |
"Sprawl" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: asprawl, prawl, Sarwal, spraw, sprawn, sprowl. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "sprawl" (pronounced sprô"l) |
| 3 | -r ô" l | brawl, crawl, drawl, enthral, scrawl, thrall. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-l-p-r-s-w" | |
-1 letter: pawls, warps, wraps. | |
-2 letters: alps, awls, laps, lars, laws, pals, pars, pawl, paws, raps, rasp, raws, salp, slap, slaw, spar, swap, waps, warp, wars, wasp, wrap. | |
-3 letters: alp, als, ars, asp, awl, lap, lar, las, law, pal, par, pas, paw, rap, ras, raw, sal, sap, saw, spa, wap, war, was. | |
-4 letters: al, ar, as. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-l-p-r-s-w" | |
+1 letter: sprawls, sprawly. | |
+2 letters: slipware, sprawled, sprawler. | |
+3 letters: moldwarps, plowshare, ropewalks, sleepwear, slipwares, sprawlers, sprawlier, sprawling, swordplay, wallopers, warplanes, wordplays. | |
+4 letters: crawlspace, drawplates, plowshares, polywaters, sprawliest, swordplays, wallpapers, workplaces. | |
+5 letters: crawlspaces, palmerworms, plasterwork, playwrights, ropewalkers, sleepwalker, spacewalker, sparrowlike, superlawyer, swordplayer, wentletraps. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
