sprawl
part of speech
verb (sprawl, sprawls, sprawled, sprawling); noun (sprawl; urban sprawl)
meaning for a pupil
1) To sprawl is to sit or lie with your arms and legs spread out in a relaxed or careless way. tree →
2) To sprawl can mean to fall so that you land spread out. tree →
3) A town or city that sprawls spreads out over a large area in an untidy way. tree →
4) Sprawl (urban sprawl) is the spreading of houses, shops and roads into the countryside around a city. tree →
sense in the lessons
Everyday life: sprawling on the sofa, sending someone sprawling in football. Geography: urban sprawl around big cities like Los Angeles or Sydney means people need cars, and countryside is lost; planners try to control it with green belts (UK). Stories: «sprawled on the floor» can show someone exhausted or knocked down.
examples
- He sprawled on the sofa after football. tree →
- The tackle sent her sprawling onto the grass. tree →
- The city sprawls for miles. tree →
- Urban sprawl is eating up farmland. tree →
- The cat lay sprawled in the sun. tree →
- A sprawling old house stood on the hill. tree →
- Green belts stop sprawl around London. tree →
- "Hallo, Woe! why are you always idly sprawling there?" tree →
note
Adjective «sprawling» = spreading widely. Noun «sprawl» is usually uncountable (urban sprawl). Do not confuse with «crawl» or «brawl» (a rough fight).
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «sprawl» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.