stretch
/stɹɛt͡ʃ/ verb, noun, proper noun
Forms stretches stretching stretched straught straight strech stremtch
- verb (transitive) To lengthen by pulling. “I stretched the rubber band until it almost broke.”
- verb (intransitive) To lengthen when pulled. “The rubber band stretched almost to the breaking point.”
- verb (transitive) To pull tight. “First, stretch the skin over the frame of the drum.”
- verb (intransitive, transitive) To extend one’s limbs or another part of the body, for example in order to improve the elasticity of one's muscles. “I always stretch my muscles before exercising.”
- verb (intransitive) To extend physically, especially from a limit point and/or to a limit point. “The beach stretches from Cresswell to Amble.”
- verb (figuratively, transitive) To get more use than expected from a limited resource. “I managed to stretch my coffee supply a few more days.”
- verb (figuratively, transitive) To make inaccurate by exaggeration. “To say crossing the street was brave is stretching the meaning of "brave" considerably.”
- verb (transitive) To make great demands on the capacity or resources of something. “Her bizarre explanation really stretches credulity.”
- noun An act of stretching. “I was right in the middle of a stretch when the phone rang.”
- noun The ability to lengthen when pulled. “That rubber band has quite a bit of stretch.”
- noun (idiomatic) A course of thought which diverts from straightforward logic, or requires extraordinary belief or exaggeration. “It's a bit of a stretch to call Boris Karloff a comedian.”
- noun A segment of a journey or route. “It was an easy trip except for the last stretch, which took forever.”
- noun A segment or length of material. “a stretch of cloth”
- noun (UK, slang, archaic) A walk.
- noun (baseball) A quick pitching delivery used when runners are on base where the pitcher slides his leg instead of lifting it.
- noun (baseball) A long reach in the direction of the ball with a foot remaining on the base by a first baseman in order to catch the ball sooner.
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
hyperbolize overemphasize overstate big up cut it fat exaggerate overcharge overdo play up three-sheet truss forhang Guy Fawkes hang ketch send to the scaffold scrag string up tuck up stint reach reaching stretching stretchiness stretchability stretch along extend unfold stretch out elongate
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English strecchen, from Old English streċċan (“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken (“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken (“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække (“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka (“to stretch”), Dutch strak (“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem (“to stretch”). More at stark.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To reach out; to extend; to put forth.
- verb To draw out to the full length; to cause to extend in a straight line; as, to stretch a cord or rope.
- verb 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.
- verb To extend or spread one's self, or one's limbs; as, the lazy man yawns and stretches.
Etymology [OE. strecchen, AS. streccan; akin to D. strekken, G. strecken, OHG. strecchen, Sw. sträcka, Dan. strække; cf. AS. stræck, strec, strong, violent, G. strack straight; of uncertain origin, perhaps akin to E. strong. Cf. Straight.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “stretch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details