stretch

STRECH/stɹɛt͡ʃ/

Verbstretches, stretching, stretched

Noun pluralstretches

24 meanings of stretch

Practice

1
longer by pullingverbtransitive
To make something longer or wider by pulling it, or to become longer or wider when pulled.
Try not to stretch the neck of your sweater when you pull it over your head.
The baker stretched the pizza dough with her hands until it covered the whole pan.
Similarlengthen, extend, elongate
Oppositeshrink, contract, compress
Note
The root sense, and the oldest story in the word. Old English streċċan meant to stretch, hold out and spread out, even to lay someone prostrate. It goes back to a root meaning "stiff, rigid": what is pulled becomes taut. The verb once had an irregular past, straught, now obsolete. Today it is regular (stretched) and in this sense usually takes an object: a rubber band, canvas, a wire.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Old English streċċan meant to stretch, hold out, spread out, and prostrate. en.wiktionary.org
The word is traced to a root meaning stiff or rigid, through an ancestor meaning to stretch or make taut. en.wiktionary.org
Stretch formerly had the irregular past form straught, which is obsolete. en.wiktionary.org
2
spanverbintransitive
To extend continuously over an area or distance, often between particular points or as far as a limit.
The coastline stretches from the harbor to the distant cliffs.
Power lines stretch across the entire valley.
UsageUsually with from ... to, across or for: stretches from the harbor to the cliffs, stretches for miles.
Similarextend, run, spread, reach
3
limber upverbtransitive or intransitive
To extend your limbs or another part of the body, often to loosen the muscles.
The cat stretched lazily in the afternoon sun.
Dancers stretch their hamstrings before every performance.
UsageAlso stretch your legs, meaning take a short walk after sitting for a while.
Similarextend, straighten
4
length of roadnouncountable
A continuous length or area of something, such as a road, route, land, water, or material.
This stretch of highway is notorious for traffic jams.
The river's lower stretches flood every spring.
UsageUsually a stretch of something: a stretch of highway, coast or river.
Similarsection, length, expanse, strip
5
body movementnouncountable
An act of extending the limbs or body, especially to loosen the muscles.
He began the day with a long stretch and a yawn.
A few gentle stretches loosened her stiff shoulders.
6
time spannouncountable
A continuous period of time, often one spent doing a single activity.
She spent a long stretch abroad before settling down.
The team won six games over a short stretch in spring.
UsageOften a long stretch; at a stretch means without a break: eight hours at a stretch.
Similarperiod, spell, stint
7
increaseverbtransitive
To make something greater in amount, size, or extent.
The champion stretched her lead with every lap.
Consistent wins stretch a club's lead at the top of the table.
Similarextend, increase, widen, expand, build
Oppositereduce, cut, narrow, shrink
8
push limitsverbtransitive
To strain something's capacity or resources by demanding a great deal of it.
A sudden surge in demand stretched the company's supply chain.
Rising costs stretch household budgets to the breaking point.
UsageOften passive: stretched thin, stretched to the limit, budgets stretched to breaking point.
Similarstrain, tax, overtax, overload, overburden
Oppositeease, relieve
9
elastic qualitynoununcountable
The capacity of a material to lengthen when pulled.
This waistband has just enough stretch to feel comfortable.
Cheaper elastic loses its stretch after only a few washes.
Similarelasticity, give, flexibility, springiness, spring
Oppositerigidity, stiffness, inflexibility
10
tightenverbtransitive
To pull something so that it becomes tight or taut.
Workers stretch the fabric tightly over the frame before stapling it.
He stretched the wire until it was perfectly taut.
Similartighten, tauten, pull, draw
Oppositeloosen, slacken, relax
11
unlikely claimnouncountable
A line of reasoning that strays from plain logic or demands unusual belief.
Blaming the weather for the team's loss seems like a stretch.
Her theory was a stretch, but it turned out to be right.
UsageUsually a bit of a stretch or seems like a stretch; by no stretch of the imagination means not at all.
Similarreach, leap
12
make lastverbfigurativelytransitive
To make a limited resource go further or last longer than expected.
Families learn to stretch every dollar during hard times.
The charity stretched its small budget across dozens of projects.
UsageOften with money words: stretch every dollar, stretch a budget, stretch a paycheck.
Similarspread, ration
Oppositesquander, waste
13
home straightnouncountable
The final straight section of a racetrack leading to the finish line.
Two horses battled neck and neck down the stretch.
The favorite faded badly in the stretch and lost.
UsageUsually down the stretch or in the stretch.
Similarstraight, straightaway
Note
Racing shortens homestretch to stretch: once the horses leave the final turn, the stretch is where the race is won or lost. Commentators speak of a horse battling or fading there, so the word carries the drama of the finish as much as the geometry of the track.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
The stretch is the final straight section between the last turn and the finish line. en.wiktionary.org
14
late seasonnoun
The closing part of a sports season, when teams compete for places in the playoffs or the championship.
They acquired two veterans to strengthen the roster for the stretch.
A late slump during the stretch cost them a playoff spot.
UsageOften the stretch run or down the stretch.
Note
The sports calendar's home straight: the weeks after the trade deadline, when rosters are largely settled and every game counts toward the playoffs. Its favorite phrase is stretch run. Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein's Baseball Dynasties (2000) credits the 1942 Cardinals with an amazing stretch run of 43 wins in their last 51 games. The image echoes the racing homestretch.

Less common meanings

15
prison timenounslangcountable
A period of time served in prison; a prison sentence.
The old man had done more than one stretch behind bars.
They gave him a ten-year stretch for the heist.
UsageYou do a stretch, usually with the length in front: a ten-year stretch.
Similarsentence, term
16
limousinenounabbreviationellipsis
Short for stretch limousine: a limousine with a lengthened body that gives extra room and seating inside.
The celebrities arrived in a black stretch with tinted windows.
A stretch glided down the avenue, drawing every eye.
Note
The modifier swallows the compound. Stretch limousine, a luxury car built longer than normal, is clipped to its first word. The result behaves as an ordinary noun, with an article and the regular plural stretches. In writing, the full stretch limousine is clearer at first mention; the bare form works once the context is plainly about cars.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Stretch is an elliptical shortening of stretch limousine. en.wiktionary.org
A stretch limousine is a luxury car built longer than normal. en.wiktionary.org
17
nickname (tall)nouncolloquial
An informal nickname used to address someone who is notably tall.
Come on, Stretch, you're the only one tall enough to fix the light.
Throw it here, Stretch, before they block you.
UsageCapitalize it as a nickname: Hey, Stretch!
Oppositeshorty
Note
A nickname that is capitalized and used in direct address. In Michael Farrell's Running with Buffalo (2007), a man shouts "Hey, Stretch" at a tall co-worker. It is teasing rather than an insult, and it turns ironic easily: Gawr Gura fires back "Oh, OK, Stretch" at someone who has just called her a dwarf. Save it for people you know; it presumes familiarity.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
Michael Farrell's Running with Buffalo was first published in 2007. en.wiktionary.org
A male character shouts “Hey, Stretch” at a tall co-worker in the novel. en.wiktionary.org
Gawr Gura replies “Oh, OK, Stretch” after Amelia Watson calls her a dwarf. en.wiktionary.org
18
baseball pitchingnoun
In baseball, a pitching delivery from the set position, used mainly with runners on base, in which the pitcher pauses with hands together and skips the full windup.
With two men on, the pitcher worked from the stretch all inning.
With a runner on first, the pitcher worked from the stretch to keep him close.
UsageCommon phrases include pitch from the stretch and pitch out of the stretch.
Note
Pitchers work "from the stretch" when runners are on base. Instead of the full windup, the pitcher comes set and often uses a slide step, which makes the delivery quicker and gives runners less time to steal.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Pitchers use the stretch with runners on base. cloud.rampinteractive.com
A quicker pitching delivery helps prevent stolen bases. en.wikipedia.org
19
first base reachnouncountable
A long reach toward the throw by a first baseman, who keeps one foot on the base in order to catch the ball sooner.
A full stretch by the first baseman turned a close play into an easy out.
The throw pulled him off the bag despite a long stretch.
Similarreach, extension
Note
A different baseball stretch from the pitcher's delivery. This one belongs to the first baseman, who keeps a foot on the bag and reaches as far as possible toward the throw. Catching the ball even a moment sooner can beat the runner. Players and commentators speak of a full or long stretch, and of being pulled off the bag when the reach falls short.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
A first baseman stretches toward the throw while keeping a foot on the base. en.wikipedia.org
Catching the throw sooner can put the runner out at first base. wiltonlittleleague.org
20
lighter eveningsnounIrelandcountable
The longer hours of daylight, especially the lengthening evenings of springtime as compared with the shorter days of winter.
By April there was a real stretch in the evenings, and the children played outside until eight.
By early April, everyone in the village was talking about the stretch in the evenings.
UsageOften used with in the evening or in the evenings, and an approving adjective: a grand stretch in the evenings.
Note
Irish English has a warm seasonal use of the word. In spring, when the light lasts later each day, people remark that there is a grand stretch in the evenings. It is said as a small celebration that winter is ending, and outside Ireland it may need explaining.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The seasonal sense is Irish and refers especially to lengthening spring evenings. en.wiktionary.org
The expression 'a grand stretch in the evenings' is attested in an Irish springtime context. westmeathsports.ie
21
nounarchaicUK
A walk, especially one taken for exercise or pleasure.
In the afternoon I went for a stretch into the country, & about 4 it cleared up pretty well, so I hurried back & we got a cart & drove to Bassano, a little town about 8 miles off, that we wanted to see.
a. 1941, Evelyn Underhill, quoted in 2010
Note
Old British slang for a walk, usually in the phrase go for a stretch. Evelyn Underhill went for a stretch into the country one afternoon before hurrying back when the weather cleared. The word is archaic, so it suits period dialogue or letters better than modern speech, where walk or stroll would sound natural. It leans on the same image as stretching one's legs.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
'Stretch' historically meant a walk in British slang. en.wiktionary.org
Underhill described taking a countryside walk one afternoon and hurrying back after the weather cleared. en.wiktionary.org
22
verbarchaictransitive
To put someone to death by hanging.
Similarhang
Note
Gallows humor in a single verb: to hang someone was to stretch them, short for stretching their neck on the rope. The slang is archaic. In modern writing it reads as period color in historical fiction, not as a live term, and it should not be used straight. Truss served as a synonym in the same grim register.
23
overstateverb
To exaggerate or overstate something, so that it goes beyond the plain truth.
Some people stretch the numbers to make their sales records look better.
He stretched the story a bit, since the brawl he described lasted only seconds.
Note
A use that died out while its cousin with an object survived. Someone "apt to stretch in his report of facts" stretched without saying what. This bare use is obsolete and was colloquial even in its day. Modern English wants the object, as in stretching the truth. Use it now only to echo an older voice, and expect readers to supply "the truth" themselves.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
The intransitive sense meaning to exaggerate is labelled obsolete and colloquial. en.wiktionary.org
The quoted wording occurs as an example of exaggerating without an expressed object. en.wiktionary.org
24
verb
To sail close to the wind under a full press of canvas.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of stretch apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origin

Middle English strecchen comes from Old English streċċan, which meant "to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out." It goes back to Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan, meaning "to stretch, make taut," and, beyond that, to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "stiff, rigid." Dutch strekken, German strecken and Swedish sträcka, all meaning "to stretch," are related.