stretch

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   easily stretched

   stretch hosiery

2. 2
   noun

   extension to or beyond the ordinary limit

   running at full stretch

3. 3
   noun

   a large and unbroken expanse or distance

   a stretch of highway

4. 4
   noun

   an unbroken period of time during which you do something

   there were stretches of boredom

5. 5
   verb

   extend one's body or limbs

   Let's stretch for a minute--we've been sitting here for over 3 hours

6. 6
   verb

   increase in quantity or bulk by adding a cheaper substance

   stretch the soup by adding some more cream

7. 7
   verb

   become longer by being stretched and pulled

   The fabric stretches

8. 8
   verb

   make long or longer by pulling and stretching

   stretch the fabric

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”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken (“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken (“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække (“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka (“to stretch”), Dutch strak (“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem (“to stretch”). More at stark.