Stretch
[stretʃ] or [strɛtʃ]
Definition
(noun.) extension to or beyond the ordinary limit; 'running at full stretch'; 'by no stretch of the imagination'; 'beyond any stretch of his understanding'.
(noun.) exercise designed to extend the limbs and muscles to their full extent.
(noun.) a straightaway section of a racetrack.
(noun.) the capacity for being stretched.
(noun.) a large and unbroken expanse or distance; 'a stretch of highway'; 'a stretch of clear water'.
(noun.) an unbroken period of time during which you do something; 'there were stretches of boredom'; 'he did a stretch in the federal penitentiary'.
(verb.) extend one's limbs or muscles, or the entire body; 'Stretch your legs!'; 'Extend your right arm above your head'.
(verb.) extend one's body or limbs; 'Let's stretch for a minute--we've been sitting here for over 3 hours'.
(verb.) become longer by being stretched and pulled; 'The fabric stretches'.
(verb.) extend the scope or meaning of; often unduly; 'Stretch the limits'; 'stretch my patience'; 'stretch the imagination'.
(verb.) pull in opposite directions; 'During the Inquisition, the torturers would stretch their victims on a rack'.
(verb.) lie down comfortably; 'To enjoy the picnic, we stretched out on the grass'.
(verb.) occupy a large, elongated area; 'The park stretched beneath the train line'.
(adj.) easily stretched; 'stretch hosiery' .
(adj.) having an elongated seating area; 'a stretch limousine' .
Edited by Josie--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To reach out; to extend; to put forth.
(v. t.) To draw out to the full length; to cause to extend in a straight line; as, to stretch a cord or rope.
(v. t.) To cause to extend in breadth; to spread; to expand; as, to stretch cloth; to stretch the wings.
(v. t.) To make tense; to tighten; to distend forcibly.
(v. t.) To draw or pull out to greater length; to strain; as, to stretch a tendon or muscle.
(v. t.) To exaggerate; to extend too far; as, to stretch the truth; to stretch one's credit.
(v. i.) To be extended; to be drawn out in length or in breadth, or both; to spread; to reach; as, the iron road stretches across the continent; the lake stretches over fifty square miles.
(v. i.) To extend or spread one's self, or one's limbs; as, the lazy man yawns and stretches.
(v. i.) To be extended, or to bear extension, without breaking, as elastic or ductile substances.
(v. i.) To strain the truth; to exaggerate; as, a man apt to stretch in his report of facts.
(v. i.) To sail by the wind under press of canvas; as, the ship stretched to the eastward.
(n.) Act of stretching, or state of being stretched; reach; effort; struggle; strain; as, a stretch of the limbs; a stretch of the imagination.
(n.) A continuous line or surface; a continuous space of time; as, grassy stretches of land.
(n.) The extent to which anything may be stretched.
(n.) The reach or extent of a vessel's progress on one tack; a tack or board.
(n.) Course; direction; as, the stretch of seams of coal.
Editor: Pasquale
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Strain, tighten, make tense.[2]. Extend, lengthen, elongate, draw out.[3]. Reach, stretch forth, hold out.[4]. Spread, expand, unfold, display.[5]. Exaggerate, extend too far.
v. n. Extend, reach, be drawn out.
n. [1]. Extent, extension, reach, compass, range.[2]. Effort, struggle, strain, exertion.
Edited by Elise
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Extend, expand, elongate, draw_out, spread, strain, tighten, reach
ANT:Contract, fold, curtail, shrink, shorten
Checker: Peggy
Definition
v.t. to extend: to draw out: to expand: to reach out: to exaggerate strain or carry further than is right: to cause to lie at full length: (slang) to hang.—v.i. to be drawn out: to be extended: to extend without breaking: to exaggerate.—n. act of stretching: effort: struggle: reach: extension: state of being stretched: utmost extent of meaning: course: one single uninterrupted sitting turn &c.: (slang) a year's imprisonment.—ns. Stretch′er anything used for stretching as gloves hats &c.: a frame on which a painter's canvas is stretched by means of wedges forced into the corners: a frame for carrying the sick or dead: a footboard for a rower; Stretch′er-bond a method of building in which bricks or stones are laid lengthwise in successive courses the joints of the one falling at the middle of that above and below; Stretch′ing-course a course of bricks or stones having all the faces outward; Stretch′ing-frame a machine for stretching cotton rovings before being spun into yarn: a frame on which starched fabrics are dried; Stretch′ing-ī′ron a currier's tool for dressing leather.—adj. Stretch′y apt to stretch too much: liable to stretch one's self from weariness.
Typist: Sophie
Examples
- But you can imagine how surprised I was, Mr. Holmes, when, on my return on the Monday, I saw the same man on the same stretch of road. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- The trees and vines stretch across these narrow roadways sometimes and so shut out the sun that you seem to be riding through a tunnel. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- She was exposed to every stare, she passed on through a stretch of torment. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- From the coast inland, stretch, between flowered lanes and hedges, rolling pasture-lands of rich green made all the more vivid by th e deep reddish tint of the ploughed fields. Walter Libby. An Introduction to the History of Science.
- For what did I say to myself arter having amused myself with that there stretch of a comic idea, as a sort of a playful game? Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- Your hands are bigger than mine, and you will stretch my glove dreadfully, began Meg, whose gloves were a tender point with her. Louisa May Alcott. Little Women.
- I ventured to stretch my hand to the bonnet-grec which lay in grim repose on the window-sill. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- He _could not_ walk on, till daylight came again; and here he stretched himself close to the wall--to undergo new torture. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- St. Clare was stretched on a bamboo lounge in the verandah, solacing himself with a cigar. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- And he stretched forth his hand towards his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- Sir Percival looked seriously embarrassed and distressed, Mr. Fairlie stretched out his lazy legs on his velvet footstool, and said, Dear Marian! Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- After I had eaten I was greatly invigorated, but feeling the need of rest I stretched out upon the silks and was soon asleep. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- Now, Quimbo, said Legree, as he stretched himself down in the sitting-room, you jest go and walk that Tom up here, right away! Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Tom stretched himself out on a box, and there, as he lay, he heard, ever and anon, a smothered sob or cry from the prostrate creature,--O! Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- I was just stretching my legs, when out bounced another woman on me. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- She was so alone, with the level, unliving field of the water stretching beneath her. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Which contained--' interposed Monks, stretching forward. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- In effect, I am of no country,' said Mr Blandois, stretching out his leg and smiting it: 'I descend from half-a-dozen countries. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- He saw vividly with his spirit the grey, forward-stretching face of the negro woman, African and tense, abstracted in utter physical stress. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- They entered it in one of its lowest points, and drove for some time through a beautiful wood stretching over a wide extent. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- Watson, in San Francisco, over a wire stretching 3,400 miles across the continent. Various. The Wonder Book of Knowledge.
- A reef of rocks, black and rough, stretches far into the sea. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
- To run my hand along the Chain, when found, until I come to the part of it which stretches over the edge of the rocks, down into the quicksand. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- An extremely wide flank-membrane stretches from the corners of the jaw to the tail, and includes the limbs with the elongated fingers. Charles Darwin. On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
- Even the land about Chat Moss was bought up and improved, and all along the line what had been waste stretches began to blossom into towns and villages. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- It seemed as if the bonfire-makers were standing in some radiant upper story of the world, detached from and independent of the dark stretches below. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- She goes down from the block, stops, looks wistfully back,--her daughter stretches her hands towards her. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- Sorrows is more plentiful than dinners just now; I reckon, my dinner hour stretches all o'er the day; yo're pretty sure of finding me. Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell. North and South.
Edited by Cecilia