at a stretch

Idioms  

1. Also, at one stretch. At one time, during one period. For example, Working quickly, she hoped to finish all the drawings at a stretch. In contrast to the nearly synonymous at a sitting, this idiom, first recorded in 1774, does not imply being seated while engaging in a single continuous activity. Rather, it transfers the meaning of stretch as “a continuous length” to “a continuous time period.”

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

at a stretch

We can ignore the news for days at a stretch, something I feel entitled to do after four decades in the news business.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 8, 2025

I also hadn’t done my hearing any favors by working the graveyard shift at a nightclub during college—eight uninterrupted hours at a stretch of noise exposure that vastly exceeded safe levels.

From Slate ● Oct. 20, 2024

The men stay on these positions, flying missions day and night, for up to five days at a stretch and spend as little time outside as possible.

From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2024

He spent weeks at a stretch in psychiatric hospitals, sometimes against his will.

From Science Magazine ● May 15, 2024

"When I was young, we always had rain," Aunty Silver says, motioning out the window at a stretch of cracked earth.

From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman