From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishldoce_311_bsprawlsprawl1 /sprɔːl $ sprɒːl/ ●○○ (also sprawl out) verb [intransitive always + adverb/preposition] 1 LIE DOWNto lie or sit with your arms or legs stretched out in a lazy or careless way He sprawled out on the sofa. I tripped on a stone and went sprawling on the pavement. a blow which sent him sprawling2 
SPREADif buildings sprawl, they spread out over a wide area in an untidy and unattractive way The town seemed to sprawl for miles.→ See Verb table
SPREADif buildings sprawl, they spread out over a wide area in an untidy and unattractive way The town seemed to sprawl for miles.→ See Verb tableExamples from the Corpus
sprawl• Jimmy sprawled, his hands now braced solidly on the steps in front of him.• Gallagher drove his fist into his face and sent him sprawling on his back.• Carla is sprawled on the sofa.• We bathed our feet deliciously before sprawling on the soft mossy bank in the drying heat of the sun.• The middle-class neighborhoods sprawl outward from the city center.• They sprawled panting on the ground, resting their weight against the rocks.• Ralemberg and his wife sprawled there, their throats gashed from ear to ear.went sprawling• He took three flights without stopping, and when he reached the last, he went sprawling.• One of them collided with Dunne and went sprawling.• Although he hadn't actually handled her particularly roughly, she lost her balance and went sprawling on the floor.sprawlsprawl2 noun [singular, uncountable] AREAa large area of buildings that are spread out in an untidy and unattractive way We drove through miles of urban sprawl before we finally got out into the countryside.Examples from the Corpus
sprawl• Through the front window lay a sprawl of hills, but the window above my bed butted the neighbour's garage.• On one side of them was a sprawl of turquoise cabbages, frilly and tight-waisted, ready to bolt.• His sprawl makes me seem like a silent, precise insect.• Some people call it rural sprawl.• The editor of a new national magazine called me up before Christmas and asked me to write a story about suburban sprawl.• They identify the mechanisms that make suburban sprawl possible, almost inevitable.• As long as that remains the status quo, there will be uncontrolled sprawl in Tucson.• A fictionalised countryside comes back to brighten the dark heart of the urban sprawl.urban sprawl• These powers were permissive, and in most of Britain urban sprawl and ribbon development continued more or less unabated.• The natural habitats of Britain's wildlife have been ravaged by urban sprawl and pollution.• Ribbon development, urban sprawl and scattered housing were all brought under reasonable control.• This factor had considerable importance in engendering urban sprawl.• More freeways will just mean more urban sprawl.• If you want the definition of urban sprawl, look at one-acre or three-acre lots.• Nor are the results of urban sprawl always aesthetic.• At that time, little was done to control the urban sprawl.• They soon left the urban sprawl of roundabouts, sodium streetlights and Wimpey homes and Dexter began to speed along country lanes.• A fictionalised countryside comes back to brighten the dark heart of the urban sprawl.• It negates home-field advantage for home-grown retailers and contributes to urban sprawl.Origin sprawl1 Old English spreawlian 