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manspreading

noun

  1. practice of sitting in public transport with legs wide apart, thereby covering more than one seat
L1321495 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈmænˌspɹɛdɪŋ/

noun

Etymology: From man + spreading. Popularized in 2014, perhaps patterned after mansplaining. Equal to manspread + -ing.

  1. The practice of men splaying their legs open wide when sitting on public transport, thus occupying more than one seat.

    The new ads — aimed at curbing rude behavior like manspreading and wearing large backpacks on crowded trains — are set to go up in the subways next month.

    Manspreading is certainly bad manners in a crowded subway – and so is other stuff, like people wielding giant backpacks.

verb

Etymology: From manspread + -ing.

  1. present participle and gerund of manspread