spreading

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of spread

   “And so, unfortunately, this great and spreading network of railways, that recently showed such promise as a major instrument in the modern development of China, must be left for the time being in the melting-pot of Armageddon.”

   “As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field.”

2. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of spread

noun

1. (countable, uncountable)The act by which something is spread.

   “Small numbers [of meadowlarks] remain on farms in the southern counties throughout the winter, usually relying on fresh manure spreadings for food when snow covers the fields.”

2. (uncountable)The act of spreading (speedreading).

   “Chief among the strategies exploiting this rule was "spreading" (a combination of "speed" and "reading"), where debaters would rattle off arguments at a blistering pace. Their speeches often exceeded 300 words per minute. (A conversational pace is about 60 per minute.)”

   “The NSDA currently boasts more than one hundred and fifty thousand student participants (per affiliated team rosters), many of whom compete in Lincoln–Douglas or policy. The activities are distinct in structure—policy is two-on-two—but they operate similarly on the national circuit, and involve spreading and other experimental tactics.”