sprawl
noun/sprɔːl/
/sprɔːl/
[uncountable, countable, usually singular]- a large area covered with buildings that spreads from the city into the countryside in an ugly way
- attempts to control the fast-growing urban sprawl
- a sprawl of buildings
Word OriginOld English spreawlian ‘move the limbs convulsively’; related to Danish sprælle ‘kick or splash about’. The noun dates from the early 18th cent.Definitions on the go
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sprawl