sprawled; sprawling; sprawls
1
: to lie or sit with arms and legs spread out
2
: to spread or develop irregularly or without restraint
bushes sprawling along the road
sprawling suburbs
a sprawling narrative
3
a
: to creep or clamber awkwardly
b
archaic
: to lie thrashing or tossing about
: to cause to spread out carelessly or awkwardly
sprawled out her books on the table
1
: an irregularly spread or scattered group or mass
2
3
: the act, posture, or condition of sprawling
Examples of sprawl in a Sentence
Verb
The kids sprawled on the floor to watch TV.
She tripped and went sprawling into the table.
The city sprawls along the coastline.
The bushes were sprawling along the road.
Recent Examples on the Web
Billie Melissa, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025
Cassie, who is 8½ months pregnant, is the star witness in prosecutors’ sprawling criminal case against Diddy.
—Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 13 May 2025
Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
The Bethesda gameplay loop is simple, but sprawl lends it a sense of depth.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 8 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sprawl
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Verb
Absolutely astonishing action moments meet a sprawling story w/ many nods to past MI films.
—Billie Melissa, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 May 2025
Cassie, who is 8½ months pregnant, is the star witness in prosecutors’ sprawling criminal case against Diddy.
—Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 13 May 2025
Noun
Despite GitHub’s efforts to prevent such credential leakage, the sprawl of these plaintext secrets is worsening, not improving.
—Davey Winder, Forbes.com, 12 May 2025
The Bethesda gameplay loop is simple, but sprawl lends it a sense of depth.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 8 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for sprawl
Cite this Entry
“Sprawl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sprawl. Accessed 18 May. 2025.
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