Stretch

Stretch, strech, v.t. to extend: to draw out: to expand: to reach out: to exaggerate, strain, or carry further than is right: to cause to lie at full length: (slang) to hang.—v.i. to be drawn out: to be extended: to extend without breaking: to exaggerate.—n. act of stretching: effort: struggle: reach: extension: state of being stretched: utmost extent of meaning: course: one single uninterrupted sitting, turn, &c.: (slang) a year's imprisonment.—ns. Stretch′er, anything used for stretching, as gloves, hats, &c.: a frame on which a painter's canvas is stretched by means of wedges forced into the corners: a frame for carrying the sick or dead: a footboard for a rower; Stretch′er-bond, a method of building in which bricks or stones are laid lengthwise in successive courses, the joints of the one falling at the middle of that above and below; Stretch′ing-course, a course of bricks or stones having all the faces outward; Stretch′ing-frame, a machine for stretching cotton rovings before being spun into yarn: a frame on which starched fabrics are dried; Stretch′ing-ī′ron, a currier's tool for dressing leather.—adj. Stretch′y, apt to stretch too much: liable to stretch one's self from weariness. [A.S. streccan—strec, stræc, strong; cf. Ger. strack, straight.]