In the divinatory use of the Tarot, a spread is a pattern into which the exposed cards are placed. Generally, the position within the spread will color the interpretation of the cards. For instance, in a simple three-card spread the first card might signify "the past", the second "the present" and the third "the future".

The most popular spread is probably the ten-card "ancient Celtic Cross" spread which is neither ancient nor Celtic having been created by Arthur Edward Waite one of the two principals behind the Waite-Smith deck.

In forensics, the practice of cramming as much information into your speech as possible, by speaking as rapidly as you can. Typically done in policy debate. Speaking in a monotone, being "lazy" with your articulation, and speaking in your head voice (in a slightly higher pitch than your normal register) can assist you in speaking faster.

The practice of spreading is not about communication, discourse, or policy analysis. It is about competition, specifically, about winning, thanks to debate judges who decide rounds based on sheer amount of evidence instead of rhetorical persuasion.

When one is examining a histogram there are generally two elements that are examined. The first are the three averages of the set presented: the mean, mode, and median. The other is the spread of the set. For example, the set:

{1,2,5,5,5,8,9}

Has a mean of five, a mode of five, and a median of five. This is also true of the set:

{0,1,4,5,6,9,10}

Except that there is no mode since each value has equal frequency. Regardless of the fact that these two sets have different central tendencies they are nevertheless not identical. The difference is in the spread of the two sets. Spread is a reflection of how the various values are placed relative to the mean value of the set. The most common way to measure spread is with standard deviation. Standard deviation is equal to the square root of the mean of the deviations of the set squared, as explained in the node standard deviation.

Spread (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spread; p. pr. & vb. n. Spreading.] [OE. spreden, AS. sprædan; akin to D. spreiden, spreijen, LG. spreden, spreen, spreien, G. spreiten, Dan. sprede, Sw. sprida. Cf. Spray water flying in drops.]

1.

To extend in length and breadth, or in breadth only; to stretch or expand to a broad or broader surface or extent; to open; to unfurl; as, to spread a carpet; to spread a tent or a sail.

He bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent.
Gen. xxxiii. 19.

Here the Rhone
Hath spread himself a couch.
Byron.

2.

To extend so as to cover something; to extend to a great or grater extent in every direction; to cause to fill or cover a wide or wider space.

Rose, as in a dance, the stately trees, and spread
Their branches hung with copious fruit.
Milton.

3.

To divulge; to publish, as news or fame; to cause to be more extensively known; to disseminate; to make known fully; as, to spread a report; -- often acompanied by abroad.

They, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.
Matt. ix. 31.

4.

To propagate; to cause to affect great numbers; as, to spread a disease.

5.

To diffuse, as emanations or effluvia; to emit; as, odoriferous plants spread their fragrance.

6.

To strew; to scatter over a surface; as, to spread manure; to spread lime on the ground.

7.

To prepare; to set and furnish with provisions; as, to spread a table.

Boiled the flesh, and spread the board.
Tennyson.

To spread cloth, to unfurl sail. [Obs.] Evelyn.

Syn. -- To diffuse; propogate; disperse; publish; distribute; scatter; circulate; disseminate; dispense.

 

© Webster 1913


Spread, v. i.

1.

To extend in length and breadth in all directions, or in breadth only; to be extended or stretched; to expand.

Plants, if they spread much, are seldom tall.
Bacon.

Governor Winthrop, and his associates at Charlestown, had for a church a large, spreading tree.
B. Trumbull.

2.

To be extended by drawing or beating; as, some metals spread with difficulty.

3.

To be made known more extensively, as news.

4.

To be propagated from one to another; as, the disease spread into all parts of the city. Shak.

 

© Webster 1913


Spread, n.

1.

Extent; compass.

I have got a fine spread of improvable land.
Addison.

2.

Expansion of parts.

No flower hath spread like that of the woodbine.
Bacon.

3.

A cloth used as a cover for a table or a bed.

4.

A table, as spread or furnished with a meal; hence, an entertainment of food; a feast. [Colloq.]

5.

A privilege which one person buys of another, of demanding certain shares of stock at a certain price, or of delivering the same shares of stock at another price, within a time agreed upon. [Broker's Cant]

6. (Geom.)

An unlimited expanse of discontinuous points.

 

© Webster 1913


Spread,

imp. & p. p. of Spread, v.

Spread eagle.
(a) An eagle with outspread wings, the national emblem of the United States.
(b) The figure of an eagle, with its wings elevated and its legs extended; often met as a device upon military ornaments, and the like.
(c) (Her.) An eagle displayed; an eagle with the wings and legs extended on each side of the body, as in the double-headed eagle of Austria and Russia. See Displayed, 2.

 

© Webster 1913


Spread, n.

1.

An arbitrage transaction operated by buying and selling simultaneously in two separate markets, as Chicago and New York, when there is an abnormal difference in price between the two markets. It is called a back spreadwhen the difference in price is less than the normal one.

2. (Gems)

Surface in proportion to the depth of a cut stone.

 

© Webster 1913

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