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

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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

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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

Democrats lead polls in the final stretch before the midterms; riots in France reflect enormous economic and political discontent; and DOJ lawyers spar with judge over Trump’s plans for public golf course in D.C.

From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2026

Long Beach’s breakwater protects the shore from waves from the west, but allows waves from the south to hit a narrow stretch of the peninsula that’s been badly damaged this year.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

They are slow-moving, mostly flat, waves of warm water that can stretch thousands of miles across the Pacific Ocean.

From Salon ● Oct. 22, 2026

After all, they effectively gave the Brewers a large loan during a fallow stretch of six consecutive seasons without a playoff berth.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

He needs to rest, and the only accommodation we can find for the night is a stretch of green meadow, where the grass fortunately is soft.

From "Across So Many Seas" by Ruth Behar

To complete the thought about songwriters recording their own introspective records — a tradition that stretches back through Luke Laird and Jon Brion and Jimmy Webb — Sloan asks if I’ve seen HBO’s “Silicon Valley.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2026

The general idea is that going long stretches without eating depletes the body’s stored sugar, or glycogen, so it burns stored fat for energy.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Inspired by an unfinished play by Federico García Lorca, this Netflix film—Spain’s Oscar entry for best international feature—follows multiple protagonists and stretches across three different points in time.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Zacharia spoke haltingly, read off notes for long stretches, took just three questions, and at one point said “my president” when she meant “my husband.”

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

But then the silence between them stretches on.

From "Clean Getaway" by Nic Stone

Chip stocks have come under intense pressure with valuations that had been stretched by an AI-fueled rally.

From Barron's ● Oct. 20, 2026

But for now, the indicators of a bubble don’t seem quite stretched enough to call time on the rally.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 19, 2026

Sentiment in the oil market, meanwhile, appeared much less stretched.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026

An increasing number of people are missing credit card repayments as finances are stretched by rising bills.

From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026

Clare stretched out his arms, as if to say, All intact, though he flexed his paw where a quill had struck him.

From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman

Co-founders Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz built Blue Owl into a star of the private-credit industry, a parallel banking system with loans stretching across the U.S. economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

Martinez had earlier played his part in the Blues securing a first Premier League clean sheet in nine months, a run stretching back 23 matches.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

They then used 24 estimates of the world population stretching across the past 2,000 years to show that human numbers have in fact continually outpaced expectations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

An installment sale or promissory note could certainly make that happen, but I’d be wary of stretching payments out that far just to protect Son #2 in case of divorce.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

The stairwell seems to descend forever, stretching into eternity—which means that this ungodly chase might never end.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

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Related Words

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

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