From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishspread out phrasal verb1 SPREADif a group of people spread out, they move apart from each other so that they cover a wider area The search party spread out to search the surrounding fields.2 spread something ↔ outSPREAD to open something out or arrange a group of things on a flat surface Sue spread out her notes on the kitchen table and began to write.3 SPREAD (also be spread out) to cover a large area The city spread out below her looked so calm.4 spread something ↔ outSLOW to do something over a period of time, rather than at one timespread something ↔ out over The course is spread out over four days. → spread→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
spread out• I'm sure you'd be more comfortable if you spread yourselves out a little.• Several small cabins were spread out across the property.• Diane had her newspaper spread out all over the floor.• Members of the tribe are spread out over hundreds of square miles.spread over• They could write off all investments in the year they are made rather than spreading them out over a period of years.• Graham untied the knot in the document tape and spread the papers out over his desk. 