stretch

To make something longer or wider by pulling it.

• Stretch the band gently.
• He stretched the shirt until it fitted.
• Can you stretch this fabric a little?

Similar words: lengthen, extend

Opposites: compress

Common phrases: stretch something out, stretch a band, stretch the fabric, stretch the material

To reach across an area or continue for a particular distance.

• The road stretches into the distance.
• Green fields stretched across the valley.
• How far does the beach stretch?

How to use it: stretch from A to B (The forest stretches from the river to the mountains.); stretch across something (Fields stretch across the valley.); stretch for something (The beach stretches for several miles.)

Similar words: extend, reach

Common phrases: stretch across something, stretch from something, stretch for miles

To become longer or wider when pulled.

• This fabric stretches easily.
• The elastic stretched without breaking.
• Will the shirt stretch enough to fit?

Similar words: lengthen, expand

Opposites: shrink

Common phrases: stretch easily, stretch under pressure, stretch without breaking

A continuous part of a road, journey, or other route.

• The last stretch was uphill.
• We drove along a quiet stretch of road.
• Several stretches of the route were closed.

How to use it: stretch of something (This stretch of road is dangerous in winter.)

Similar words: section, segment

Common phrases: final stretch, stretch of road, last stretch

A continuous period of time spent doing something or being somewhere.

• I slept for a long stretch.
• She worked eight hours at a stretch.
• His two stretches in prison changed his life.

How to use it: stretch of something (We enjoyed a long stretch of sunny weather.); for something at a stretch (He worked for six hours at a stretch.)

Similar words: period, spell

Common phrases: long stretch, stretch of time, at a stretch

An act of pulling something so that it becomes longer or wider.

• One stretch made the band longer.
• Give the fabric a gentle stretch.
• Repeated stretches weakened the elastic.

How to use it: stretch of something (A gentle stretch of the elastic loosened it.)

Similar words: pull

Common phrases: gentle stretch, stretch of something

An idea or statement that is difficult to believe because it goes beyond the facts.

• That explanation is a stretch.
• It would be a stretch to call this a success.
• Even with that evidence, her claim remains a stretch.

How to use it: be a stretch to do something (It is a stretch to call him an expert.)

Similar words: exaggeration

Common phrases: quite a stretch, stretch to say, stretch of imagination, stretch to believe