SPREAD EAGLE • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Spread eagle

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/sprɛd ˈigəl/ Listen

Spread eagle

noun

An emblem (an eagle with wings and legs spread) on the obverse of the Great Seal of the United States.

A skating figure executed with the skates heel to heel in a straight line.

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Etymology of 'Spread eagle'

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"Spread eagle" Quotes from Famous Books

... to Geera on the Settite, there was a constant difference of opinion between him and his new purchase, until we suddenly heard a heavy fall. Upon looking back, I perceived Florian like a spread eagle on his stomach upon the ground, lying before the horse, who was quietly looking at his new master. On another occasion, I heard a torrent of abuse expressed in German, and upon turning round I found him clinging to the neck of his ...

— The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia • Samuel W. Baker

... the galled necks of oxen and other cattell." Bracken is also named botanically, Pteris aquilina, because the figure which appears in its succulent stem when cut obliquely across at the base, has been thought to resemble a spread eagle; and, therefore, Linnaeus termed the Fern Aquilina. Some call it, for the same reason, "King Charles in the oak tree"; and in Scotland the symbol is said to be an impression of the Devil's foot. [185] Again, witches are reputed to detest this Fern, since it bears ...

— Herbal Simples Approved for Modern Uses of Cure • William Thomas Fernie

Words linked to "Spread eagle" : allegory, figure, emblem