Stretch | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Strĕtch, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. STRETCHED (strĕcht); p. pr. & vb. n. STRETCHING.] [A-S. strēccan, D. strekken, N. H. Ger. strecken, O. H. Ger. strecchan, Sw. sträcka, Dan. strække.]

Sense 1. To draw out; to extend, especially in length; as, to stretch a cord or rope.

Sense 2. To extend in breadth; to spread; to expand; as, to stretch cloth; to stretch the wings.

Sense 3. To reach out; to extend; to put forth.

In conquest stretched mine arm. Shak.

Sense 4. To make tense; to render tight.

So the stretched cord the shackled dancer tries. Smith.

Sense 5. To draw or pull out in length; to strain; as, to stretch a tendon or muscle.

Sense 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. Bur'ke.

Strĕtch, v. i.

verbintransitive

v. i. 1. To be extended; to be drawn out in length or in breadth, or both.

Sense 2. To be extended; to spread; as, a lake stretches over a hundred miles.

Sense 3. To be extended, or to bear extension, without breaking, as elastic substances.

The inner membrane . . . because it would stretch and yield, remained unbroken. Boyle.

Sense 4. To strain beyond the truth; to exaggerate; as, a man who is apt to stretch has less credit than others.

Sense 5. (Naut.) To direct a course; to sail;—often understood to signify to sail under a great spread of canvas close hauled.

Sense 6. To make violent efforts in running.

Stretch, n.

noun

Sense 1. Act of stretching, or state of being stretched; reach; effort; struggle; strain. “By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain.” Dryden.

Those put lawful authority upon the stretch, to the abuse of power, under color of prerogative. L’Estrange.

Sense 2. The extent to which any thing may be stretched; hence, any extended portion or division. “Grassy stretches of land.” Blackwood.

Quotations, in their utmost stretch, can signify no more than that Luther lay under severe agonies of mind. Atterbury.

This is the utmost stretch that nature can. Granville.

Sense 3. (Naut.) The reach or extent of progress on one tack; a tack.

Sense 4. Course; direction; as, the stretch of seams of coal.