circulate vs spread out

circulate and spread out both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
circulate	No	No	Yes	No
spread out	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, spread out is a hyponym of circulate; that is, spread out is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than circulate:

Other hyponyms of circulate include send around, utter, scatter, spread.

circulate (verb)	spread out (verb)
cause to become widely known	set out or stretch in a line, succession, or series
become widely known and passed on	spread out or open from a closed or folded state
move around freely from person to person or from place to place	move outward
move through a space, circuit or system, returning to the starting point	extend in one or more directions
cause to be distributed	move away from each other
cause to move in a circuit or system	turn outward
	strew or distribute over an area