stretching

STRECH-ing/ˈstɹɛt͡ʃɪŋ/

4 meanings of stretching

1
noununcountable
Gently pulling your muscles to make them longer and easier to bend.
Like slowly pulling a rubber band so it bends more easily next time.
Stretching before a run helps keep your legs from getting hurt.
A few minutes of stretching each morning made her back feel looser.
2
noununcountable
Pulling something to make it longer, wider, or tighter.
Like pulling soft dough until it spreads out flatter and wider.
The stretching of the old sweater left the sleeves too long.
Too much stretching ruined the shape of the gloves.
Similarlengthening, elongation, extension, straining, pulling
Oppositeshrinking, contraction, shortening
Note
3
verb
Present participle of stretch. Use this form for something happening right now.
She is stretching the dough across the baking pan.
The cat was stretching lazily in the warm sun.
Note
4
adjective
Needing a lot of effort or hard work to reach.
Like a goal placed just out of easy reach, so you have to try hard.
Managers set stretching targets to push the whole team a bit further.
The project was stretching, but the reward at the end was worth it.
Similarchallenging, demanding, ambitious, testing, exacting
Oppositeeasy, undemanding, modest, unambitious
Note

stretching is a form of stretch

stretch, verb: To pull something so it gets longer or wider, or to get longer or wider when pulled. Full entry

Forms: stretchstretches he/she/itstretching -ing formstretched past tense, past participle
Spelling: stretch → stretching: add -ing

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of stretching apart? Answer 4 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1–2

From Middle English strecching, made from the word 'stretch' plus '-ing'.

Meanings 3–4

From Middle English strecchinge, from Old English streċċende, the present participle of a word meaning 'to stretch'.