SPRAWL

sprawl, sprawling

(noun) an ungainly posture with arms and legs spread about

conurbation, urban sprawl, sprawl

(noun) an aggregation or continuous network of urban communities

sprawl

(verb) sit or lie with one’s limbs spread out

sprawl, straggle

(verb) go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way; “Branches straggling out quite far”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Verb

sprawl (third-person singular simple present sprawls, present participle sprawling, simple past and past participle sprawled)

To sit with the limbs spread out.

To spread out in a disorderly fashion; to straggle.

Noun

sprawl (countable and uncountable, plural sprawls)

An ungainly sprawling posture.

A straggling, haphazard growth, especially of housing on the edge of a city.

Source: Wiktionary

Sprawl (sprall), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sprawled (spralld); p. pr. & vb. n. Sprawling.] Etym: [OE. spraulen; cf. Sw. sprattla to sprawl, dial. Sw. spralla, Dan. spælle, sprælde, D. spartelen, spertelen, to flounder, to struggle.]

1. To spread and stretch the body or limbs carelessly in a horizontal position; to lie with the limbs stretched out ungracefully.

2. To spread irregularly, as vines, plants, or tress; to spread ungracefully, as chirography.

3. To move, when lying down, with awkward extension and motions of the limbs; to scramble in creeping. The birds were not fledged; but upon sprawling and struggling to get clear of the flame, down they tumbled. L'Estrange.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition