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Stretch   /strɛtʃ/   Listen
verb
Stretch  v. t.  (past & past part. stretched; pres. part. stretching)  
1.
To reach out; to extend; to put forth. "And stretch forth his neck long and small." "I in conquest stretched mine arm."
2.
To draw out to the full length; to cause to extend in a straight line; as, to stretch a cord or rope.
3.
To cause to extend in breadth; to spread; to expand; as, to stretch cloth; to stretch the wings.
4.
To make tense; to tighten; to distend forcibly. "The ox hath therefore stretched his yoke in vain."
5.
To draw or pull out to greater length; to strain; as, to stretch a tendon or muscle. "Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve."
6.
To exaggerate; to extend too far; as, to stretch the truth; to stretch one's credit. "They take up, one day, the most violent and stretched prerogative."


Stretch  v. i.  
1.
To be extended; to be drawn out in length or in breadth, or both; to spread; to reach; as, the iron road stretches across the continent; the lake stretches over fifty square miles. "As far as stretcheth any ground."
2.
To extend or spread one's self, or one's limbs; as, the lazy man yawns and stretches.
3.
To be extended, or to bear extension, without breaking, as elastic or ductile substances. "The inner membrane... because it would stretch and yield, remained umbroken."
4.
To strain the truth; to exaggerate; as, a man apt to stretch in his report of facts. (Obs. or Colloq.)
5.
(Naut.) To sail by the wind under press of canvas; as, the ship stretched to the eastward.
Stretch out, an order to rowers to extend themselves forward in dipping the oar.


noun
Stretch  n.  
1.
Act of stretching, or state of being stretched; reach; effort; struggle; strain; as, a stretch of the limbs; a stretch of the imagination. "By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain." "Those put a lawful authority upon the stretch, to the abuse of yower, under the color of prerogative."
2.
A continuous line or surface; a continuous space of time; as, grassy stretches of land. "A great stretch of cultivated country." "But all of them left me a week at a stretch."
3.
The extent to which anything may be stretched. "Quotations, in their utmost stretch, can signify no more than that Luther lay under severe agonies of mind." "This is the utmost stretch that nature can."
4.
(Naut.) The reach or extent of a vessel's progress on one tack; a tack or board.
5.
Course; direction; as, the stretch of seams of coal.
To be on the stretch, to be obliged to use one's utmost powers.
Home stretch. See under Home, a.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Stretch" Quotes from Famous Books



... mortgages; while Holland was afraid to give a part, although offering the whole. There was no great inequality between the two countries. Both were instinctively conscious, perhaps, of standing on the edge of a vast expansion. Both felt that they were about to stretch their wings suddenly for a flight over the whole earth. Yet each was a very inferior power, in comparison with the great empires of the past or ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley
... so really, my child? Do you think a tumbler is empty, then, when you have drunk out its contents; and that jelly pots are empty when all the jelly is eaten? There are not so many empty things in the world, I assure you, as you suppose. You forget the air—that monster who is always wanting to stretch himself out, and pushes against everything he meets. He is an unceremonious gentleman, who takes possession of every vacant place; as fast as you put a spoonful on your plate, he takes up the room ...
— The History of a Mouthful of Bread - And its effect on the organization of men and animals • Jean Mace
... German was bound to apologize for treating Bacon as an equal of Leibnitz, Kant, Hegel, and Schelling. Bacon's name is never mentioned by German writers without some proviso that it is only by a great stretch of the meaning of the word, or by courtesy, that he can be called a philosopher. His philosophy, it is maintained, ends where all true philosophy begins; and his style or method has frequently been described as unworthy of a ...
— Chips From A German Workshop. Vol. III. • F. Max Mueller
... some days," said Mrs. Holtum; but the Doctor, understanding best the kind of man Mr. Adiesen was, remarked, "That will be next time. We must not take more than his lairdship has conceded. By-and-by we may venture to stretch a point ...
— Viking Boys • Jessie Margaret Edmondston Saxby
... pieces that will be the correct size for the pans in which the loaves are to be baked, as shown at the right in Fig. 11. Dust each piece with a small quantity of flour and knead it until the large bubbles of gas it contains are worked out and it is smooth and round. In working it, stretch the under side, which is to be the top of the loaf, and form it into a roll that is as long and half as high as the pan and as thick at each end as in the center. A good idea of the size and shape can be formed from the loaf held in the ...
— Woman's Institute Library of Cookery, Vol. 1 - Volume 1: Essentials of Cookery; Cereals; Bread; Hot Breads • Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences


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