stretcher

[strech-er]

noun

1. Medicine/Medical.

   1. a kind of litter, often of canvas stretched on a frame, for carrying the sick, wounded, or dead.

   2. a similar litter on wheels, adapted for use in ambulances and hospitals.

2. a person or thing that stretches.

3. any of various instruments for extending, widening, distending, etc.

4. a bar, beam, or fabricated material, serving as a tie or brace.

5. Masonry.,  a brick or stone laid in a wall so that its longer edge is exposed or parallel to the surface.

6. a simple wooden framework on which the canvas for an oil painting is stretched.

7. Furniture.

   1. a framework connecting and bracing the legs of a piece of furniture.

   2. one member of this framework.

8. a crosspiece that is set athwart and near the bottom in a small boat, and against which the feet of a rower are braced.

9. one of the thin, sliding rods connecting the canopy and handle of an umbrella.

verb (used with object)

1. to stretch (canvas for a painting) on a stretcher.

stretcher

/ ˈstrɛtʃə /

noun

1. a device for transporting the ill, wounded, or dead, consisting of a frame covered by canvas or other material

2. a strengthening often decorative member joining the legs of a chair, table, etc

3. the wooden frame on which canvas is stretched and fixed for oil painting

4. a tie beam or brace used in a structural framework

5. a brick or stone laid horizontally with its length parallel to the length of a wall Compare header

6. rowing a fixed board across a boat on which an oarsman braces his feet

7. a camp bed

8. slang,  an exaggeration or lie

verb

1. to transport (a sick or injured person) on a stretcher

Word History and Origins

Origin of stretcher¹

First recorded in 1375–1425, stretcher is from the late Middle English word stretcher. See stretch, -er ¹

Example Sentences

TV images showed Katoa being fitted with an oxygen mask and put on a stretcher.

Read more on Barron's

Simon Jones was carried off on a stretcher after a sickening knee injury and other plans fell at the first hurdle.

Read more on BBC

His parents kissed his face as he lay on a stretcher.

Read more on BBC

She said the ambulance crew arrived without a stretcher and that his father had to carry him to the vehicle.

Read more on BBC

Footage aired on Al Jazeera showed Palestinian casualties being taken on stretchers in ambulances Saturday morning.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal