Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SPREAD, or SPRED, v.i.

1. To extend itself in length and breadth, in all directions, or in breadth only; to be extended or stretched. The larger elms spread over a space of forty or fifty yards in diameter; or the shade of the larger elms spreads over that space. The larger lakes in America spread over more than fifteen hundred square miles. Plants, if they spread much, are seldom tall. – Bacon.
2. To be extended by drawing or beating; as, a metal spreads with difficulty.
3. To be propagated or made known more extensively. Ill reports sometimes spread with wonderful rapidity.
4. To be propagated from one to another; as, a disease spreads into all parts of a city. The yellow fever of American cities has not been found to spread in the country.