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.”

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Example Sentences

Most people can focus only for three or four hours at a stretch, anyhow, so trying to work for eight solid hours isn’t really an effective use of your attention span.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026

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

After a time the vermin evidently became bored and flew away; for hours at a stretch the sky above his head was empty and, but for the larks, silent.

From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley