Spreadeagle

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A vertical spreadeagle

The spreadeagle, also spread eagle or spread-eagle, is the position in which a person has arms outstretched and legs apart, figuratively resembling an eagle with wings spread. It can refer to the sex position in which one partner is supine in a spreadeagle.

It can also refer to a bondage position in which the person's wrists and ankles are tied to corner-posts of a bed. Being relatively simple, a spreadeagle tie can be improvised using household items and little experience.

In an upright spreadeagle, the person's wrists and ankles are instead bound to anchoring points on a wall or restraining equipment like a St Andrews cross. This position is favored for some BDSM games, because it leaves the person open for sensation play.

  • This spreadeagle position is also sometimes used in law enforcement, convict handling or other situations, to cause the rapid submission and control of a person, eiher facing a wall, car or other large object or flat on the floor. This in turn is a classic element in roleplay with a uniformed partner, usually the top, often involving spanking of the spread bottom; however to bare the bottom's bottom and genitals is rather uncomfortable as the trousers and underwear cannot be fully lowered enough to spread the legs wide enough for full exposure, so it may be better to have him strip in advance, at least from the waist down.
  • "The Spread-eagle" was a Viking method of execution, involving the victim being pinioned face down and having his ribs separated from his spinal column and forcibly pulled outwards until they were nearly parallel with the ground, creating, in effect, a pair of 'wings'.

Other uses and meanings

  • The heraldic spreadeagle is derived from a heraldic depiction of an eagle, with both wings, the body and the legs displayed, and was used as the emblem of a number of states and monarchs.
  • a Spread eagle is also a figure skating element
  • "Spread-eagleism" was the 19th century precursor to the term "Jingoism".

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