sprawl · ​[intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to sit, lie or fall with your arms and legs spread out in a relaxed or careless way. He was sprawling in an armchair in ...

​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 ...

[intransitive] (+ adv./prep.) to sit or lie with your arms and legs spread out in a relaxed or awkward way He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV.

1[countable, usually singular, uncountable] a large area covered with buildings that spreads from the city into the countryside in an ugly way attempts to ...

There are five meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun sprawl. See 'Meaning & use' for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence.

​spreading in an untidy way. a modern sprawling town; sprawling handwriting. Oxford Collocations DictionarySprawling is used with these nouns:.

sprawling adjective NAmE//ˈsprɔlɪŋ// [only before noun] spreading in a messy way a modern sprawling town sprawling handwriting.

sitting or lying with your arms and legs spread out in a lazy or awkward way. He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV.

​sitting or lying with your arms and legs spread out in a relaxed or careless way. He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV.

to spread the arms and legs out carelessly and untidily while sitting or lying down: I knocked into her in the corridor and sent her sprawling (= knocked her ...