Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

The orb of its belly distends and stretches its shirt like a crinoline, and shortens it.

From Light by Wray, Fitzwater