Dictionary.com
definitions

distend

[dih-stend]
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR distend ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with or without object)

to expand by stretching, as something hollow or elastic: Habitual overeating had distended his stomach.
to spread in all directions; expand; swell: The sea distended about them.

RELATED WORDS

widen, augment, dilate, stretch, balloon, bloat, enlarge, distort, lengthen, increase, puff, inflate, expand, amplify

Nearby words

  1. distasteful,
  2. distelfink,
  3. distemper,
  4. distemperature,
  5. distemperoid,
  6. distended,
  7. distensible,
  8. distensile,
  9. distension,
  10. distent

Origin of distend

1375–1425; late Middle English (< Anglo-French destendre) < Latin distendere, equivalent to dis- dis-1 + tendere to stretch
SYNONYMS FOR distend
1. See expand. 1, 2. enlarge, bloat.
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR distend ON THESAURUS.COM
ANTONYMS FOR distend
1, 2. shrink, contract.
SEE MORE ANTONYMS FOR distend ON THESAURUS.COM
Related formsdis·tend·er, nouno·ver·dis·tend, verbun·dis·tend, verb (used with object)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for distend

British Dictionary definitions for distend

distend

verb

to expand or be expanded by or as if by pressure from within; swell; inflate
(tr) to stretch out or extend
(tr) to magnify in importance; exaggerate
Derived Formsdistender, noundistensible, adjectivedistensibility, noundistension or distention, noun

Word Origin for distend

C14: from Latin distendere, from dis- 1 + tendere to stretch
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for distend

distend

v.

c.1400, from Latin distendere "to swell or stretch out, extend," from dis- "apart" (see dis-) + tendere "to stretch" (see tenet). Related: Distended; distending.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Medicine definitions for distend

distend

[dĭ-stĕnd′]

v.

To swell out or expand or cause to swell out or expand from or as if from internal pressure.
The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.