“to spread over” vs. “to spread across” [closed]

Question

I doubt whether I should use "over" or "across" for a liquid spreading "along" a surface.

It is interesting to note that the definition of Across, uses the word over to describe it: "Expressing movement over a place or region"
"Which preposition is more appropriate" questions would almost always be more well-received at the sister site for English Language Learners.
Vera, I doubt whether means that you're unhappy about all the following alternatives. I'm not sure whether does the job nicely. Now, to your question - though Rhys correctly points out that 'over' and 'across' have some common senses (which suffices to label them as 'synonyms'), there are also senses where they're not interchangeable. Even in your example, 'over' has a connotation - a hint - of 'all over', and 'across' one of 'towards the other side'. I doubt that in most cases these nuances would be too important.
It's spreading along a surface, right? Why say over or across then? Grammar does not prescribe how you would like to describe something.
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komalh · Answer 1 · 2013-03-15 03:11:42Z

up vote 0 down vote

For geographical things, e.g, building/empire, we use "across the surface". e.g; Company ABC is spread across 4 countries.

For others, we use "over the surface", e.g; "Spread the tarp over the woodpile." [As suggested by jwpat7]

edited Mar 15 at 3:11

answered Mar 14 at 10:48

komalh
1816

	But your example uses on (I'd choose 'on' here too, but it ruins the example). The interchangeability of 'across' and 'over' in the OP's example is shown by these Google returns for "spread across the surface" + "spread over the surface": the relative rate at which flame will spread over the surface of the material as ... how far and how fast flames spread across the surface of the test sample. and ... that all other of these oils tend to spread over the surface of water, at least as ... equilibrium the floating oil could spread across the surface or it could form a ... . – Edwin Ashworth Mar 14 at 11:18
	oh sorry. I wanted to say "over".Sorry.its my fault! – komalh Mar 14 at 11:29
	@komalh - so, edit your answer and fix it. Except “Spread the sheet over the table” may be a poor example. “Spread the tarp over the woodpile” works. Also fix idiosyncratic punctuation in «countries. for others, we use, "over the surface", eg;» – jwpat7 Mar 14 at 17:42

closed as not a real question by Kris, tchrist, MετάEd, aedia λ, Mitch Mar 14 at 17:14