spread out

phrasal verb·1 sense·particle out

Meanings

1

Extend over a wide area

Why “out”? Spreading outward from a centre to many recipients.

The tents spread out across the field.
The tents covered a wide area of the field.
The search party spread out along the beach.
The search party moved apart to cover more of the beach.

Don't confuse with

spread outspread over

Spread out means extend over a wide area. Spread over means extend across a wide area on top.

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The tents spread out across the field. What does it mean?

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