stretch

American  

[strech] / strɛtʃ /

verb (used with object)

• stretches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stretched,
  past participle,  past
• stretching
  present participle

1. to draw out or extend (oneself, a body, limbs, wings, etc.) to the full length or extent (often followed byout ).

   to stretch oneself out on the ground.

2. to hold out, reach forth, or extend (one's arm, head, etc.).

3. to extend, spread, or place (something) so as to reach from one point or place to another.

   to stretch a rope across a road.

4. to draw tight or taut.

   to stretch the strings of a violin.

5. to lengthen, widen, distend, or enlarge by tension.

   to stretch a rubber band.

   Antonyms:

   shrink, shorten

6. to draw out, extend, or enlarge unduly.

   The jacket was stretched at the elbows.

7. to extend, force, or make serve beyond the normal or proper limits; strain.

   to stretch the imagination; to stretch the facts; to stretch food to feed extra guests; to stretch money to keep within a budget.

8. to extend or strain (oneself ) to the utmost, as by intense exertion; tax.

9. to increase the quantity of (a beverage, food, paint, etc.) by dilution or admixing.

   They caught the bartender stretching the gin with water.

10. Radio and Television. to prolong or slow down (action or pace) in order not to end too early.

    to stretch a show; to stretch the action two minutes.

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verb (used without object)

• stretches,
  present (3rd person singular)
• stretched,
  past participle,  past
• stretching
  present participle

1. to recline at full length (usually followed byout ).

   to stretch out on a couch.

2. to extend the hand or to reach, as for something.

3. to extend over a distance or area or in a particular direction.

   The forest stretches for miles.

4. to extend in time.

   His memory stretches back to his early childhood.

5. to stretch oneself by extending the limbs and lengthening the muscles to the utmost.

   to stretch and yawn.

6. to become stretched, or admit of being stretched, to greater length, width, etc., as any elastic or ductile material.

   Antonyms:

   shrink, shorten

7. Radio and Television. to reduce the pace or slow down the action of a radio or television program.

noun

• stretches
  plural

1. an act or instance of stretching.

2. the state of being stretched.

3. a continuous length, distance, tract, or expanse.

   a stretch of meadow.

   Synonyms:

   compass, reach, range

4. Horse Racing. the backstretch or homestretch of a racetrack.

5. Baseball. a short windup, usually used to keep base runners from taking too long a lead, in which the pitcher starts the pitching motion with hands together at the waist, raises them to or above the head, brings them back to the waist, and, after a momentary pause, delivers the ball.

6. an extent in time; duration.

   for a stretch of ten years.

7. elasticity or capacity for extension.

8. Slang. a term of imprisonment.

   He's doing a stretch in the pen.

9. the act or fact of stretching or extending something beyond reasonable or proper limits.

   You wouldn't call her a genius by any stretch of the imagination. It's quite a stretch for me to believe his story.

10. (initial capital letter) a nickname for a tall, lanky person.

adjective

1. made of synthetic or composite yarn having a sufficiently low denier or having been subjected to any of several special mechanical treatments to permit increased elasticity.

   stretch girdle; stretch pants.

2. (of yarn) modified or twisted so as to afford high elasticity.

3. Also stretched. of or relating to a conveyance, as a limousine or airliner, whose seating area is expanded to carry more passengers or afford greater legroom and to allow space for other comforts and amenities.

stretch British  

/ strɛtʃ /

verb

1. to draw out or extend or be drawn out or extended in length, area, etc

2. to extend or be extended to an undue degree, esp so as to distort or lengthen permanently

3. to extend (the limbs, body, etc)

4. (tr) to reach or suspend (a rope, etc) from one place to another

5. (tr) to draw tight; tighten

6. to reach or hold (out); extend

7. to extend in time

   the course stretched over three months

8. (intr; foll by for, over, etc) (of a region, etc) to extend in length or area

9. (intr) (esp of a garment) to be capable of expanding, as to a larger size

   socks that will stretch

10. (tr) to put a great strain upon or extend to the limit

11. to injure (a muscle, tendon, ligament, etc) by means of a strain or sprain

12. to make do with (limited resources)

    to stretch one's budget

13. informal (tr) to expand or elaborate (a story, etc) beyond what is credible or acceptable

    that's stretching it a bit

14. (tr; often passive) to extend, as to the limit of one's abilities or talents

15. archaic to hang or be hanged by the neck

16. 1. to make a concession or exception not usually made

    2. to exaggerate

17. to take a walk, esp after a period of inactivity

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noun

1. the act of stretching or state of being stretched

2. a large or continuous expanse or distance

   a stretch of water

3. extent in time, length, area, etc

4. 1. capacity for being stretched, as in some garments

   2. ( as modifier )

      stretch pants

5. horse racing the section or sections of a racecourse that are straight, esp the final straight section leading to the finishing line

6. slang a term of imprisonment

7. 1. with some difficulty; by making a special effort

   2. if really necessary or in extreme circumstances

   3. at one time

stretch Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing stretch

• at a stretch
• by any stretch

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Synonym Usage

See lengthen.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stretchability
  noun
• prestretch
  verb (used with object)
• nonstretchable
  adjective
• stretchable
  adjective
• unstretchable
  adjective
• unstretched
  adjective
• well-stretched
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• stretches
  plural

Participles

• stretching
  present
• stretched
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• stretch
  simple
• stretches
  simple
• have stretched
  perfect
• has stretched
  perfect
• am stretching
  progressive
• are stretching
  progressive
• is stretching
  progressive
• have been stretching
  perfect progressive
• has been stretching
  perfect progressive

Past

• stretched
  simple
• had stretched
  perfect
• was stretching
  progressive
• were stretching
  progressive
• had been stretching
  perfect progressive

Future

• will stretch
  simple
• will have stretched
  perfect
• will be stretching
  progressive
• will have been stretching
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of stretch

First recorded before 900; Middle English strecchen (verb), Old English streccan; cognate with Dutch strekken, German strecken; akin to Old English stræc “firm, hard,” Middle Dutch strac “stiff.” See stare, stark

Explanation

To stretch is to extend or lengthen something beyond the normal length. You stretched both your vacation and the truth when you called out of work on Monday saying your flight home from Ibiza was canceled. Stretch is a word that has many great usages. The sense of extending one’s limbs came about circa 1200. Four hundred years later brought the phrase "stretch your legs," meaning take a walk. Don’t walk too vigorously, though, or you could stretch a muscle. The word can also be used as a noun, meaning an expanse, as in, "Looking toward the horizon, the thirsty man saw an endless stretch of sand."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stretch stretches stretched stretching

The decision could stretch the company’s already busy production lines.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Despite overall crossings dropping, the stretch of coastline used for smuggling appears to be widening.

From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026

But to assume a franchise can merely buy a playoff berth is a stretch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026

That’s according to the veteran stock-market strategist Jim Paulsen, who thinks tightening financial conditions may sabotage that usually fertile stretch.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 28, 2026

This stretch mostly saw use from hunters, or guys with ATVs and snowmobiles.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

The district stretches from the the Pacific Ocean through the foothills of the Santa Monica mountains, encompassing most of Ventura County and the L.A.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

Ms. Margolles purchased a home in the middle of this and demolished it, here reconstructing the rubble into a rectangular minimalist monument that stretches across a large gallery.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026

Nardi found that these broader stretches of unusually warm water can continue for weeks or even months, with the marine heatwave occurring somewhere within that longer period.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026

For Ortega, however, the connection stretches back long before she became a household name.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026

Buzz, Eric, and Adam fought their way over massive trunks and across stretches of debris.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

“Students who connect with a counselor early are far more likely to finish, and our counselors are stretched too thin to reach everyone who needs them,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026

"Inevitably a muscle or ligament gets stretched and a bit irritated," he says.

From BBC ● Sep. 27, 2026

The storm's center swirled off the coast of New Jersey, but clouds associated with the storm stretched far north across New England.

From Barron's ● Sep. 27, 2026

U.K. public finances are stretched and any jitters ahead of the Oct.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

Below it stretched a long slope of snowy boulders, and beyond that, scarcely a pebble’s throw away, and shimmering in its white winter mantle, lay the Forest.

From "Wolf Brother" by Michelle Paver

It often implies bending the rules, or stretching them to the limit, rather than breaking them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

Its orbit would have been about four times more eccentric than that of Jupiter's moon Europa, whose icy shell is heavily fractured by the continual gravitational stretching and squeezing it experiences.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 24, 2026

Wolfe also acquired more than 100 Ghanaian fantasy coffins — figurative sculptures, some stretching 10 to 12 feet long, also known as Fantastic Afterlife Vehicles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026

On the other side of Scotland, Argyll and Bute is a geographically vast, rural council - stretching from the Glasgow commuter zone to tiny islands like Tiree and Iona.

From BBC ● Sep. 22, 2026

He stood up, stretching, and winced; all his muscles ached.

From "Abel's Island" by William Steig

Related Words

• cover
• develop
• draw
• expand
• fill
• go
• grow
• lengthen
• open
• pull
• reach
• run
• span
• spread
• strain
• swell
• unfold
• widen