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