How to Use sprawl in a Sentence

sprawl

1 of 2 verb
  • The city sprawls along the coastline.
  • The bushes were sprawling along the road.
  • She tripped and went sprawling into the table.
  • The kids sprawled on the floor to watch TV.
  • Baker sprawled across a leather couch.
    — Charles Bethea, New Yorker, 1 June 2026
  • The lawn sprawls 58,000 square feet.
    — Shardaa Gray, CBS News, 15 June 2026
  • Wilson is sprawled out on a sand dune; Odom lays on a bed in an inn.
    — Lori Waxman, Chicago Tribune, 25 Feb. 2026
  • The news is the latest twist in a sprawling legal saga.
    — Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 13 May 2026
  • The legs are thin, offering more space for people to sprawl out.
    — Paige Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Nov. 2023
  • Jurors were shown images of her body sprawled out on the floor in a doorway.
    — Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 25 May 2023
  • The bear sprawled across one of the carcasses, watching the wolves leave.
    — Frank Glaser, Outdoor Life, 1 Apr. 2026
  • No major gaffes to leave any of the contestants sprawled on the killing floor.
    — Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
  • These sprawling plants need space, warmth, and plenty of sunshine to thrive.
    — Jessica Safavimehr, Southern Living, 2 May 2026
  • Those ads help fund a sprawling fraud economy.
    — Max Klaver, Miami Herald, 16 Mar. 2026
  • Its sprawling cave system holds the relics of dozens of saints revered by both churches.
    — CBS News, 15 June 2026
  • The horizon is cloudy, blue, and sprawling behind them.
    — Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 15 June 2026
  • There’s plenty of space for guests to lounge about, too, on a sprawling aft sunpad.
    — Nicole Hoey, Robb Report, 19 Mar. 2026
  • The sprawling backyard pool welcomes day-pass guests.
    — Jenny Adams, Travel + Leisure, 24 June 2026
  • Every room is a luxurious space to sprawl out in the big city.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 10 June 2026
  • Not that Oswalt always has time to sprawl out with a novel.
    — Rachel Brodsky, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2026
  • With deep seats, plush cushions and a lounge-ready footstool, there is plenty of room to sprawl.
    — Nora Colomer May Earn A Commission If You Buy Through Our Referral Links. This Content Was Created By A Team That Works Independently From The Fox Newsroom., FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2025
  • The sprawling tree has been measured at about 200 feet across.
    — Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Mar. 2026
  • Click here to see all the images of the sprawling Pasadena home.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 13 Oct. 2025
  • The city has a sprawling air base and is home to an infantry division.
    — ABC News, 24 June 2026
  • Ilia Malinin sprawled out on the ice, his arms spread wide.
    — Marcus Thompson Ii, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
  • The camp surrounds a sprawling forest glade that floods in the rainy season.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 6 May 2026
  • Like this word, the menu at Ananas is sprawling and inclusive.
    — Kate Bradshaw, Mercury News, 25 Feb. 2026
  • Another lies nearby, his body sprawled on the tiled floor with arms raised and blood streaked across the face.
    — Marin Scott, NBC news, 14 Jan. 2026
  • Riyadh hopes to complete most of the sprawling city by 2030.
    — Amira El-Fekki‎, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Sep. 2025
  • And then there’s the treasure required to produce such a sprawling slate.
    — Brent Lang, Variety, 4 Mar. 2026

sprawl

2 of 2 noun
  • So part of the book’s shape comes from wanting a sense of sprawl.
    — Hazlitt, 31 May 2023
  • The Plums’ princessy bedrooms sprawl across whole wings.
    — Judy Berman, Time, 8 Apr. 2026
  • Cucumber plants need space to vine out and sprawl.
    — Shelby Vittek, The Spruce, 13 May 2026
  • The sprawl was the strategy all along.
    — Time Contributors, Time, 27 Apr. 2026
  • Just take the sprawl (and much of the risk of injury) out of the equation.
    — Jeff Tomko, Men's Health, 7 July 2022
  • On my last day in town, King takes me for a drive through the east end’s dismal sprawl.
    — Paul Solotaroff, Rolling Stone, 1 July 2023
  • But conditions improve from that point, even with the unchecked sprawl.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2023
  • Lali was still there, relaxing in a half-sit, half-side-sprawl, staring off.
    — Tao Lin, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
  • Tokyo Fashion Week has a sprawl problem.
    — Ashley Ogawa Clarke, Vogue, 26 Feb. 2026
  • Tool sprawl creates friction when seconds count.
    — Tony Bradley, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
  • The massive sprawl of Game of Thrones could be both blessing and curse.
    — Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 19 Aug. 2022
  • Some sprawl on sofas with laptops open, while others linger over gin and tonics.
    — Lauren Mowery, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • The sprawl was bleeding westward, and gobbling up public land to do it.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 11 Mar. 2026
  • One family walked on a rickety pathway of boards over a sprawl of sticky black mud in their yard.
    — New York Times, 27 Apr. 2022
  • This can include jumps with weighted balls, sprawls, and Turkish get-ups.
    — Women's Health, 21 Feb. 2023
  • For the most part, this campus is a sprawl of bunker-ish 1970s buildings.
    — Dirk Sutro, San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 June 2023
  • Below me lie a sprawl of rust and ochre hillocks, undulating all the way to the horizon.
    — Priyanka Mattoo, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 July 2026
  • And unlike Chicago, the Texas sprawl requires a car to get around.
    — Kayla Hui, Chicago Tribune, 20 July 2023
  • But with less jumping and no overhead movement, the sprawl has a lower impact on your body.
    — Rikkilynn Shields Hannigan, Health, 29 Jan. 2026
  • The win had grit, sprawl-out-on-the-floor energy from role players and a comeback ending.
    — Benjamin Royer, Oc Register, 4 Mar. 2026
  • Lush, green plants, each one watered every Wednesday, sprawl and stretch toward the sun.
    — Charisma Madarang, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2022
  • The homes that are visible are scattered in what was, at the time, the northern edge of Phoenix sprawl.
    — Jake Frederico, The Arizona Republic, 26 July 2023
  • The Vanguard live set is more of a sprawl, its 11 tracks spread over two CDs.
    — Jon Garelick, BostonGlobe.com, 30 Aug. 2023
  • Although Drake’s clear goal with this triple drop is unloading the clip, there’s a semblance to the sprawl.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 15 May 2026
  • The 20 or so of us move chairs, tear up cushions, rifle through her sprawl of belongings on the ground.
    — Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 6 Nov. 2025
  • The show’s variety and sprawl was an occasional deficit, but this goes too far the other way.
    — Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Aug. 2022
  • The bucolic sprawl provided the couple with some peace from the public eye.
    — Katie Schultz, Architectural Digest, 27 Nov. 2025
  • Pastures hold shorthorn cattle and horses, while hay fields sprawl to the pecan grove that lines the edge of the property.
    — Haeven Gibbons, Dallas News, 15 Aug. 2023
  • Big city sprawl fests The larger cities presented a challenge for the hosts, so rather than one fan fest, there are many.
    — Anne M. Peterson, Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026
  • No sub-brand noise, no licensing sprawl—nothing for the engines to disambiguate.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 22 June 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sprawl.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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