spread-eagle

Lying with arms and legs outstretched and separated.

Adjective

  1. Lying with arms and legs outstretched and separated.
  2. Characterized by a pretentious, boastful, exaggerated style; bombastic.
    • Our former townsman, Mr. G. F. Train, has recently made a tremendous spread-eagle speech in England, upon the occasion of the reopening of trade between Liverpool and New Zealand […] - c. 1857, unknown author, from...
    • But Mr. Lloyd is not a spread-eagle patriot, or much given to political partisanship. - 1894, The Arena, volume 10, page 581:
    • The firm did a large and lucrative business from the start, the orders from spread-eagle orators often taxing the full capacity of its works. - 1900, The Nation, volume 70, page 101:

Origin

From spread eagle (noun).

Forms

more spread-eagle most spread-eagle

Derived

spreadeagleism

Verb

  1. To put into a spread-eagle position, with arms and legs extended and spread.
  2. To put one's body in a spread eagle.

Forms

spread-eagles spread-eagling spread-eagled