distend

American  

[dih-stend] / dɪˈstɛnd /

verb (used with or without object)

• distends,
  present (3rd person singular)
• distended,
  past participle,  past
• distending
  present participle

1. to expand by stretching, as something hollow or elastic.

   Habitual overeating had distended his stomach.

   Synonyms:

   bloat, enlarge

   Antonyms:

   contract, shrink

2. to spread in all directions; expand; swell.

   The sea distended about them.

   Synonyms:

   bloat, enlarge

   Antonyms:

   contract, shrink

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distend British  

/ dɪˈstɛnd /

verb

1. to expand or be expanded by or as if by pressure from within; swell; inflate

2. (tr) to stretch out or extend

3. (tr) to magnify in importance; exaggerate

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Synonym Usage

See expand.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• distender
  noun
• distensibility
  noun
• distension
  noun
• overdistend
  verb
• undistend
  verb (used with object)
• distensible
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• distending
  present
• distended
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• distend
  simple
• distends
  simple
• have distended
  perfect
• has distended
  perfect
• am distending
  progressive
• are distending
  progressive
• is distending
  progressive
• have been distending
  perfect progressive
• has been distending
  perfect progressive

Past

• distended
  simple
• had distended
  perfect
• was distending
  progressive
• were distending
  progressive
• had been distending
  perfect progressive

Future

• will distend
  simple
• will have distended
  perfect
• will be distending
  progressive
• will have been distending
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of distend

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English distenden (from Anglo-French destendre ), from Latin distendere, equivalent to dis- dis- ¹ + tendere “to stretch”

Explanation

A soda and pizza binge might make your stomach distend, meaning your stomach will swell as a result of pressure from the inside. If you’ve ever eaten too much food it won’t surprise you to learn that the verb distend traces back to the Latin words dis-, meaning “apart,” and tendere, meaning “to stretch.” Your stomach will certainly feel stretched out if you do something — like overeat — that causes it to distend. The word distend often applies to stomachs — a pregnancy would also cause a stomach to distend — but it can also refer to anything that is stretched out as a result of internal pressure.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

distend distends distended distending

Pregnancy is a wonder, even through the finale when a parent pushes their newborns into the world, and those tiny humans distend the most intimate parts of their bodies.

From Salon ● Nov. 9, 2025

Its body seemed to distend, its muscles to melt.

From The New Yorker ● Feb. 11, 2019

Does the league really want to so distend its compensation scale for any commissioner, much less this one?

From Washington Post ● Nov. 14, 2017

This disorder arises when defective valves allow blood to accumulate within the veins, causing them to distend, twist, and become visible on the surface of the integument.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

When a man falls upon his knees and grieves, doth not his musculature contract and his ligaments distend?

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

What might have been a crisp and moody entertainment, in Graham Greene’s elevated sense of that word, distends.

From New York Times ● Jan. 5, 2023

In his 1979 piece “Triangle — Stone/Cloth,” which leads off the exhibition, a fist-size rock distends a white banner into a triangular rictus of billows.

From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2019

In contrast, food that distends the stomach initiates short reflexes that cause cells in the stomach wall to increase their secretion of digestive juices.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

Within an hour of lunch, the stomach distends to the point where pants need to be unbuttoned, and it remains this way for the rest of the day.

From US News ● Nov. 21, 2012

In the depth of the clouds the black tempest distends its cheeks, and the storm arises.

From Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo

Yet had Beijing followed through on the financial liberalization envisioned in the WTO agreement, the housing market might not have grown so distended or the balance sheets of local governments so precarious.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

But the groaning synthesizer underneath her bashful smile tells you something is off — a crystalline tone now distended, unnerving.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

To actually feel intoxicated, a chimp would need to eat so much fruit that its stomach would become painfully distended.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 1, 2025

After weeks of the world seeing images of starving children, with distended stomachs and protruding bones, many will feel like the signs that a famine was imminent were a long time coming.

From BBC ● Aug. 22, 2025

Its distended arms were outstretched, and there was a wild hunger in its gaze.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Songs like “No Good Deed” and “March of the Witch Hunters” are chopped up and rearranged to allow for more dialogue and less emoting, distending the film into a bloated heap.

From Salon ● Nov. 21, 2025

I think what we are going for is condensing stage time, while distending mythic time … if that makes ANY sense!

From New York Times ● Nov. 22, 2021

It’s a reminder that our smallness is sometimes petty, the unwelcome gravity of others’ suffering distending her grief.

From Slate ● Jun. 9, 2016

Maintaining vascular tone within the veins prevents the veins from merely distending, dampening the flow of blood, and as you will see, vasoconstriction actually enhances the flow.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 19, 2013

Great distending clouds of chalk and earth and granite spout into the sky.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr