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stretch

To stretch is to extend or lengthen something beyond the normal length. You stretched both your vacation and the truth when you called out of work on Monday saying your flight home from Ibiza was canceled.

Stretch is a word that has many great usages. The sense of extending one’s limbs came about circa 1200. Four hundred years later brought the phrase "stretch your legs," meaning take a walk. Don’t walk too vigorously, though, or you could stretch a muscle. The word can also be used as a noun, meaning an expanse, as in, "Looking toward the horizon, the thirsty man saw an endless stretch of sand."

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: stretch

1
 vnadj
extend one's limbs or muscles, or the entire body
the act of physically reaching or thrusting out
having an elongated seating area
2
 vn
extend the scope or meaning of; often unduly
extension to or beyond the ordinary limit
3
 vn
lie down comfortably
a large and unbroken expanse or distance
FULL DEFINITIONS OF: stretch
1

v extend one's limbs or muscles, or the entire body

“Stretch your legs!”
Synonyms:
extend
Types:
spread-eagle
stretch out completely
crane, stretch out
stretch (the neck) so as to see better
Type of:
strain, tense, tense up
cause to be tense and uneasy or nervous or anxious

v extend one's body or limbs

“Let's stretch for a minute--we've been sitting here for over 3 hours”
Synonyms:
stretch out
Type of:
move
move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion

v pull in opposite directions

“During the Inquisition, the torturers would stretch their victims on a rack”
Types:
draw, pull back
stretch back a bowstring (on an archer's bow)
Type of:
draw, force, pull
cause to move by pulling

v extend or stretch out to a greater or the full length

“stretch out that piece of cloth”
Synonyms:
extend, stretch out, unfold
extend
open or straighten out; unbend
Type of:
change form, change shape, deform
assume a different shape or form

v make long or longer by pulling and stretching

“stretch the fabric”
Synonyms:
elongate
Types:
shoetree, tree
stretch (a shoe) on a shoetree
Type of:
lengthen
make longer

v become longer by being stretched and pulled

“The fabric stretches”
Antonyms:
contract, shrink
become smaller or draw together
Types:
give, yield
be flexible under stress of physical force
Type of:
grow
become larger, greater, or bigger; expand or gain

n the act of physically reaching or thrusting out

Synonyms:
reach, reaching
Types:
outreach
the act of reaching out
Type of:
motility, motion, move, movement
a change of position that does not entail a change of location

n exercise designed to extend the limbs and muscles to their full extent

Synonyms:
stretching
Types:
pandiculation
yawning and stretching (as when first waking up)
Type of:
exercise, exercising, physical exercise, physical exertion, workout
the activity of exerting your muscles in various ways to keep fit

n the capacity for being stretched

Synonyms:
stretchability, stretchiness
Type of:
elasticity, snap
the tendency of a body to return to its original shape after it has been stretched or compressed

n a straightaway section of a racetrack

Types:
homestretch
the straight stretch of a racetrack leading to the finish line
Type of:
straight, straightaway
a straight segment of a roadway or racecourse

adj having an elongated seating area

“a stretch limousine”
Synonyms
long
primarily spatial sense; of relatively great or greater than average spatial extension or extension as specified

adj easily stretched

“stretch hosiery”
Synonyms
elastic
capable of resuming original shape after stretching or compression; springy
2

v extend the scope or meaning of; often unduly

“Stretch the limits”
“stretch my patience”
“stretch the imagination”
Type of:
broaden, extend, widen
extend in scope or range or area

v increase in quantity or bulk by adding a cheaper substance

“stretch the soup by adding some more cream”
Synonyms:
extend
adulterate, debase, dilute, load
corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones
Type of:
increase
make bigger or more

v corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

Synonyms:
adulterate, debase, dilute, load
extend
increase in quantity or bulk by adding a cheaper substance
Types:
water down
thin by adding water to
doctor, doctor up, sophisticate
alter and make impure, as with the intention to deceive
Type of:
corrupt, spoil
alter from the original

n extension to or beyond the ordinary limit

“running at full stretch”
“by no stretch of the imagination”
“beyond any stretch of his understanding”
Type of:
extension
act of expanding in scope; making more widely available

n an unbroken period of time during which you do something

“there were stretches of boredom”
“he did a stretch in the federal penitentiary”
Synonyms:
stint
Type of:
continuance, duration
the period of time during which something continues
3

v lie down comfortably

“To enjoy the picnic, we stretched out on the grass”
Synonyms:
stretch out
Type of:
lie, lie down
assume a reclining position

v occupy a large, elongated area

“The park stretched beneath the train line”
Synonyms:
stretch along
Type of:
be
occupy a certain position or area; be somewhere

n a large and unbroken expanse or distance

“a stretch of highway”
“a stretch of clear water”
Types:
slack, slack water
a stretch of water without current or movement
Type of:
expanse
a wide and open space or area as of surface or land or sky
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