# sprawl

> English word · Verb · IPA /spɹɔːl/ · frequency rank #29,476

## Definitions
1. To sit with the limbs spread out.
2. To spread out in a disorderly fashion; to straggle.
3. To scoot the legs backwards, so as to land on the upper back of an opponent attempting a takedown.

## Etymology
From Middle English spraulen, from Old English spreawlian (“move convulsively”), ultimately through a Proto-Germanic form cognate with *spreutaną (“to sprout”) from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to strew”). Compare North Frisian spraweli, Norwegian sprala, Swedish sprala.

## Easily confused with
- **spray** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprawl-vs-spray)
- **straw** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprawl-vs-straw)
- **sprays** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprawl-vs-sprays)
- **spawn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spawn-vs-sprawl)
- **shawl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shawl-vs-sprawl)
- **spiral** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/spiral-vs-sprawl)
- **sprang** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprang-vs-sprawl)
- **sprain** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/sprain-vs-sprawl)

## Common misspellings (10)
`psrawl`, `sparwl`, `spprawl`, `spralw`, `sprawll`, `sprawwl`, `sprrawl`, `sprwal`, `srpawl`, `ssprawl`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/sprawl