Dictionary

overspread en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /əʊvəˈspɹɛd/ (UK)

Etymology

From Middle English overspreden, from Old English ofersprǣdan; equivalent to over- + spread. Cognate with Dutch overspreiden (“to overspread”), German überspreiten (“to overspread”).

Meanings

1. (transitive) To spread over or across (something); cover over; be scattered over; permeate, overrun.
   • So thick a haze o’erspreads the sky, They cannot see the sun on high: The wind hath blown a gale all day; At evening it hath died away. 1802, Robert Southey, The Inchcape Rock:
   • those nations of the North which overspread the world 1612, Michael Drayton, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britaine, […], London: […] [Humphrey Lownes] for M[athew] Lownes; I[ohn] Browne; I[ohn] Helme; I[ohn] Busbie, →OCLC:
   • Lady Bellaston fixed her eyes on Sophia whilst she spoke these words. To which that poor young lady, having her face overspread with blushes and confusion, answered, in a stammering voice […] 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC:
   • Deliberately, and with a peculiar quivering smile, that seemed to overspread her whole body, she put her mouth on his. 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:
2. (intransitive) To be spread or scattered about.

Forms

Synonyms

bespread