Definition of: sprawl

(sprôl) v.i.
1. To sit or lie with the limbs stretched out ungracefully.
2. To be stretched out ungracefully, as the limbs.
3. To move with awkward motions of the limbs.
4. To spread out in a straggling manner, as handwriting, vines, etc.
—v.t.
5. To cause to spread or extend awkwardly or irregularly.
—noun
1. The act or position of sprawling; an awkward recumbent posture or movement.
2. An unplanned or disorderly group, as of houses, spread out over a broad area: urban sprawl; a vast sprawl of lights. [OE spreawlian move convulsively]
—sprawl′er noun