stretcher

[ strech-er ]

noun

1. Medicine/Medical.
   1. a kind of litter, often of canvas stretched on a frame, for carrying the sick, wounded, or dead.
   2. a similar litter on wheels, adapted for use in ambulances and hospitals.
2. a person or thing that stretches.
3. any of various instruments for extending, widening, distending, etc.
4. a bar, beam, or fabricated material, serving as a tie or brace.
5. Masonry. a brick or stone laid in a wall so that its longer edge is exposed or parallel to the surface. Compare header ( def 5a ).
6. a simple wooden framework on which the canvas for an oil painting is stretched.
7. Furniture.
   1. a framework connecting and bracing the legs of a piece of furniture.
   2. one member of this framework.
8. a crosspiece that is set athwart and near the bottom in a small boat, and against which the feet of a rower are braced.
9. one of the thin, sliding rods connecting the canopy and handle of an umbrella.

verb (used with object)

1. to stretch (canvas for a painting) on a stretcher.

stretcher

/ ˈstrɛtʃə /

noun

1. a device for transporting the ill, wounded, or dead, consisting of a frame covered by canvas or other material
2. a strengthening often decorative member joining the legs of a chair, table, etc
3. the wooden frame on which canvas is stretched and fixed for oil painting
4. a tie beam or brace used in a structural framework
5. See header
   a brick or stone laid horizontally with its length parallel to the length of a wall Compare header
6. rowing a fixed board across a boat on which an oarsman braces his feet
7. a camp bed
8. slang.
   an exaggeration or lie

verb

1. to transport (a sick or injured person) on a stretcher

Word History and Origins

Origin of stretcher¹

First recorded in 1375–1425, stretcher is from the late Middle English word stretcher. See stretch, -er ¹

Example Sentences

Using a helicopter with a stretcher attached, they picked me up from the ledge and flew me to nearby El Capitan Meadow, where they planned to transfer me to a larger helicopter that could transport me to a hospital in Fresno.

From Outside Online

Logistical concerns like the availability of ammunition, or having a stretcher on hand to evacuate a wounded soldier, play key roles.

From Popular-Science

They wouldn’t need to restrain him in a stretcher, Calero told his parents.

From Washington Post

With testimony set to begin, Pearl Farlow made a dramatic entrance on a stretcher.

From Washington Post

The gentleman seemed to recover and after they took him out on a stretcher the show went on.

From Washington Blade

And the next time his friend saw Moses, it was online; his bloody body was slapped on a stretcher.

From The Daily Beast

They carry it like a stretcher, though they're missing one stretcher-bearer.

From The Daily Beast

Paramedics now headed into the shop with a stretcher to aid the gunman.

From The Daily Beast

There was a stretcher near their position— someone had brought it out earlier and leaned it up near the truck.

From The Daily Beast

Prep work now short- circuited, Carter kicked the ammo cans out of the way and snatched up the stretcher.

From The Daily Beast

They dragged him back clear of any further falls, and improvised a stretcher on which to carry home his now unconscious body.

From Project Gutenberg

The stretcher-bearers brought the latter in, and I sent for the doctor at once, but he could only pronounce him to be dead also!

From Project Gutenberg

Four officers carried the stretcher, and about six others followed behind.

From Project Gutenberg

Well away from the enemy the soldier is borne on a stretcher, sewn up in his blankets and wrapped in a flag.

From Project Gutenberg

One Palmer and two small hackle Flies on your stretcher give a tolerable good chance.

From Project Gutenberg