stretch
//stɹɛt͡ʃ//
Forms
- present (v1)
- stretch
- past (v2)
- stretched
- past participle (v3)
- stretched
- present participle
- stretching
- 3rd person singular
- stretches
- Plural
- stretches
Definitions
1.To lengthen by pulling.
- I stretched the rubber band until it almost broke.
2.To lengthen when pulled.
- The rubber band stretched almost to the breaking point.
- The inner membrane […] because it would stretch and yield, remained unbroken.
3.To pull tight.
- First, stretch the skin over the frame of the drum.
4.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.
- When the cat woke up, it yawned and stretched.
1.The ability to lengthen when pulled.
- That rubber band has quite a bit of stretch.
2.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.
- To say crossing the street was brave was quite a stretch.
3.A segment of a journey or route.
- It was an easy trip except for the last stretch, which took forever.
- It's a tough stretch of road in the winter, especially without chains.
4.An act of stretching.
- I was right in the middle of a stretch when the phone rang.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2333
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
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”).