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spread

/spred//spred/·verb, noun
Animated scene
Fig. 1 — A single drop of ink lands on white paper and, for a breath, just sits.
01Definition

To spread is to extend outward until you cover more ground — butter over toast, fire across a field, an idea through a crowd. It is an old word (Old English sprǣdan) and an irregular one: the past tense and past participle are both spread, never 'spreaded'. It works both ways — you spread the news, or the news spreads — and its great academic use is 'the spread of': the spread of a disease, of misinformation, of a movement across a region. Where widen and dilate grow a single line or opening, to spread is to disperse across a whole surface.

02In use
  • iThe fire spread through the dry grass faster than the crew could scatter to fight it.
  • iiRumours spread through the office by lunchtime, then began to disperse as the truth came out.
  • iiiShe spread the map across the table to plan the route.
03Collocations
  • the spread of
  • spread rapidly
  • spread out
  • spread across
  • widely spread

Family spread (noun) · spreading (adjective) · widespread (adjective)

04Relations

=disperse, scatter, distribute, extend, broaden

≠gather, concentrate, contain

06TOEFL & IELTS

Spread is common, so its exam value is precision, not register. Two things score points: the irregular past — spread / spread / spread, never 'spreaded'; and the academic collocation 'the spread of' (a disease, ideas, misinformation), central to epidemiology and social-science writing. Note 'spread out' (distribute over an area or time) and the adjective 'widespread'. It is both transitive (spread the news) and intransitive (the fire spread).

07Asked
What is the past tense of spread — is it 'spreaded'?
The past tense is spread, not 'spreaded'. Spread is an irregular verb whose three forms are identical: spread (present), spread (past), spread (past participle) — 'the fire spreads', 'the fire spread', 'the fire has spread'. 'Spreaded' is always wrong. Only context and the helping verb tell you which form is meant.
What does spread mean as a verb?
To spread is to extend outward and cover a wider area — you spread butter on bread, spread a map on a table, and a fire or an idea spreads on its own. It carries the sense of moving out in many directions across a surface, until what began at one point reaches much further.
What does 'the spread of' a disease or an idea mean?
'The spread of' names something extending outward through a population or region — the spread of a disease, of misinformation, of a movement. It is a core academic phrase, and the scene above shows its shape: a single drop of ink creeping outward across the paper until it covers far more than where it started.
What does 'spread out' mean?
'Spread out' means to distribute over a wider area or a longer time. People spread out to search a field; payments can be spread out over a year. The 'out' stresses moving apart from a cluster into a thinner, wider arrangement — the opposite of gathering into one place.
Is spread transitive or intransitive?
Spread works both ways. Transitively, you spread something — 'spread the news', 'spread the blanket'. Intransitively, it spreads by itself — 'the rumour spread', 'the stain spread'. Many uses come in pairs: a person spreads a disease, and the disease spreads.
Is 'spread' a noun or a verb?
It is both. As a verb it means to extend outward; as a noun it names the extent or the act of spreading — 'the spread of the disease', 'a wide spread of opinions', and even a food you spread (a cheese spread). Same spelling, and the sentence around it tells you which job it is doing.