stretch
To lengthen by pulling.
Verb 4 meanings
To lengthen by pulling.
“I stretched the rubber band until it almost broke.”
To lengthen when pulled.
“The rubber band stretched almost to the breaking point.”
To pull tight.
“First, stretch the skin over the frame of the drum.”
To extend one’s limbs or another part of the body, for example in order to improve the elasticity of one's muscles.
“I always stretch my muscles before exercising.”
Noun 4 meanings
An act of stretching.
“I was right in the middle of a stretch when the phone rang.”
The ability to lengthen when pulled.
“That rubber band has quite a bit of stretch.”
A course of thought which diverts from straightforward logic, or requires extraordinary belief or exaggeration.
“It's a bit of a stretch to call Boris Karloff a comedian.”
A segment of a journey or route.
“It was an easy trip except for the last stretch, which took forever.”
Etymology
From Middle English strecchen, from Old English streċċan (“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg- (“stiff, rigid”).
Similar and opposite words
STRETCH at a glance
STRETCH has 7 letters and scores 12 points in Scrabble (S 1 + T 1 + R 1 + E 1 + T 1 + C 3 + H 4) and 12 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #3,907 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with stretch
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