| 释义 |
▪ I. stretch, n.|strɛtʃ|
Also 6 stretche, 7 strech, Sc. streitch, streach.
[f. stretch v.]
1. The action or an act of stretching physically; the fact of being stretched.
a. Forcible extension or dilatation; occas. degree or amount of this.
1600Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood D 6, Or else heele haue it with fiue and a reach, Although it cost his necke the Halter stretch. 1691Ray Creation ii. (1704) 332 To secure them from disruption, which..they [the bones] would be in some danger of, upon a great and sudden stretch or contortion, if they were dry. 1705Elstob in Hearne's Collect. 30 Nov. (O.H.S.) I. 109 He gagg'd him to ye fullest stretch. 1883S. Chappel Sewing Machine 24 You will find when you want to work the machine that the belt, owing to the continued stretch, is too slack. 1898Allbutt's Syst. Med. V. 472 The amount of distension of the ventricle, in other words, the degree of stretch in the muscle fibres. 1907O'Gorman Motor Pocket Bk. (ed. 2) 598 In adjusting the stretch of side chains by the turn-buckle.., care must be taken to [etc.].
b. Stretching out or extension of the limbs; extent or measure of stretching out.
1696R. H. Sch. Recreat. 80 (Fencing) And when you are at your full stretch, keep your Left-hand stretched, and ever observe to keep a close Left-foot, which [etc.]. 1697Dryden æneis x. 967 Sometimes he thought to swim the stormy Main, By stretch of Arms the distant Shore to gain. 1700― Fables, Ceyx & Alcyone 482 At all her stretch her little wings she spread. 1710Felton Diss. Classics (1718) 12 What is Excellent is placed out of ordinary Reach, and Your Lordship will easily be persuaded to put forth Your Hand to the utmost Stretch, and reach whatever You aspire at. 1830A. Fonblanque Eng. under Seven Administr. (1837) II. 35 The knight.., lifting his battle-axe to the utmost stretch of his arm, dashed the edge with all his might upon the forehead of the giant. 1854Spencer in Brit. Q. Rev. July 139 Amongst other ancient measures were the orgyia or stretch of the arms, the pace, and the palm.
c. A resting with outstretched limbs. † at full stretch: reclining at full length.
1700T. Brown Amusem. Ser. & Com. Wks. 1719 III. 14 He lolls at full Stretch within, and half a dozen brawny Bulk⁓begotten Footmen behind [his coach]. 1856Chamb. Jrnl. 12 Jan. 27/2 Punter never gets above four hours' sleep in his bed; but he makes up for that deficiency..by a two hours' stretch on the bench in the afternoon.
†d. upon one's last stretch: in one's death-agony. Obs.
1680R. L'Estrange 20 Select Colloq. Erasm. 258 Observing the Woman to Yawn and just upon her last Stretch, he put [etc.].
e. An act of drawing up the body and extending the arms, indicating weariness or languor.
1712Steele Spect. No. 320 ⁋5 Our Salutation at Entrance is a Yawn and a Stretch, and then without more Ceremony we take our Place at the Lolling Table. 1856C. M. Yonge Daisy Chain i. viii, He gave a yawn and a stretch.
f. An act of ‘stretching one's legs’; a walk taken for exercise. (Cf. 6 c.)
a1761[S. Haliburton & Hepburn] Mem. Magopico viii. (ed. 2) 24 A good stretch, in a morning, over heath, and hills, and ditches,..will make a man eat a good breakfast. 1871Gladstone in Morley Life vi. viii. (1903) II. 378, I have had a twelve-miles stretch to-day, almost all on wild ground. 1887Old Man's Favour II. ii. vii. 37 ‘Were you detained at the office?’ ‘No; I went for a stretch after.’
g. The condition of being stretched; state of tension. Phrases, on, upon the stretch; to bring to the stretch.
1673Boyle New Exper. Efficacy Air's Moisture 11, I suppos'd, that after a time this unusual stretch of the Rope would cease. 1679Dryden Troil. & Cress. Pref. b 1 b, What melody can be made on that Instrument, all whose strings are screw'd up at first to their utmost stretch, and to the same sound? 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 153 The Blood-vessels in the Legs are more upon the Stretch. 1748Anson's Voy. i. vi. 66 They..strain the two thongs in contrary directions.., keeping the thongs still upon the stretch. 1753J. Bartlet Gentl. Farriery (1754) 356 E, a strap fixed to the pad,..to keep the tail on the stretch at pleasure. 1781Cowper Truth 384 An instrument, whose cords, upon the stretch,..Yield only discord in his Maker's ear. 1786J. Pearson in Med. Commun. II. 97 The ligament was on the stretch. 1793Smeaton Edystone L. §274 The chains being introduced and brought to a stretch. 1816Crabb Engl. Syn. 177 s.v. Breeze, The mariner has favourable gales which keep the sails on the stretch. 1827D. Johnson Ind. Field Sports 73 The string..is kept at its stretch by means of a stiff piece of stick. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 27 The rigging must be got on a stretch.
fig.1702Vanbrugh False Friend iv. i, Sure Villainy and Impudence were never on the Stretch before: This Traytor has wreckt 'em till they Crack.
h. Capacity for being stretched.
1875Knight Dict. Mech. 2415/2 It is called the straining, because the stretch is taken out of it by repeated wettings and stretchings. 1887Wheeling 6 July 208/1 The leather used for the seats has been subjected to sufficient pressure to take all the stretch out of it. 1894Times 15 Aug. 11/1 The Vigilant cold not sail owing to the stretch not having been taken out of her new main rigging.
i. Baseball. An action used in pitching (see quots.).
1939E. J. Nichols Hist. Dict. Baseball Terminol. 75 Stretch,..a pitcher's straightening of his arms above his head preliminary to delivering the ball. 1951H. Turkin Official Encycl. Baseball 572 The pitching delivery can be broken down and analyzed to reveal six distinct actions: windup, stretch, leg lift, stride, body pivot and follow through... The stretch brings the pitching arm behind the head. 1976Webster's Sports Dict. 428/2 Stretch,..a movement a pitcher uses instead of a windup when there are runners on base. Ibid. 429/1 The stretch, with its integral pause, allows the pitcher to throw to the base to try to pick off the runner or to keep him close to prevent his stealing without interrupting the pitching motion and making a balk.
j. Aeronaut. Modification of an existing aircraft design to increase its capabilities, esp. by lengthening the fuselage; capacity for this allowed for in a design.
1954Economist 11 Sept. 2/2 However much ‘stretch’ may have been designed into the two machines—and the evidence suggests it was not too great—these changes in elements outside the designer's control mean modifications..delays. 1960New Scientist 30 June 1640/1 The modifications involved in stretch are chiefly concerned with stress and control parameters. 1976Farnborough Internat. Exhibition (Official Programme) 46/2 The Lynx design is capable of considerable ‘stretch’, says Westland.
2. In immaterial sense: A stretching or straining something beyond its proper limits.
†a. An act exceeding the scope of one's authority or commission, or the bounds of strict law or justice; a strained or unfair argument or representation; also, an act of ‘stretching a point’, a deviation from one's accustomed rule or principle. Chiefly Sc. Obs.
1541Wyatt Let. to Privy Counc. Poems (1858) p. xxiv, If these be the matters that may bring me into suspect, me semeth..that the credit than an Ambassador hath, or ought to have, might well discharge as great stretches as these. 1689Earl of Crawford in Leven & Melv. Papers (Bannatyne Club) 319 Mr. Aird, who is represented as a man of great piety, and turned out by a streach. a1714G. Lockhart in L. Papers (1817) I. 212 Such a proposal had actually been made; and even supposing it were otherwise, it was not the first time they had made greater stretches with a design that good might come of it. 1715Burnet Own Time (1766) II. 29 It was an unheard of stretch, to oblige men to be bound for others in matters of Religion. 1717Wodrow Corr. (1843) II. 264 Though it was urged in his defence, that by ‘natural powers’ was meant only such as hearing, reading, going to ordinances,..yet these stretches did not satisfy. 1722― Hist. Suff. Ch. Scot. II. 398 Then the Probation is summed up with much Cunning, and many Stretches. c1730Boston in Morrison Mem. xii. (1899) 381 Mr. Gordon returning to Edinburgh,..desired an interview. Where⁓upon I made a stretch, and went thither. 1742Kames Decis. Crt. Sess. 1730–52 (1799) 61 It is therefore a stretch beyond the common law, to support a man's nomination of tutors to his children. 1776Paine Com. Sense (1791) 63 The unwarrantable stretch, likewise, which that house made in their last sitting, to gain an undue authority over the Delegates of that Province, ought to warn the people at large, how they trust power out of their own hands.
b. More explicitly: An unwarranted exercise of power, prerogative; a straining of the law.
1689in Acts Parlt. Scot. (1875) XII. 64/2 The causeing perseu and forfault severall persones upon streitches of old and absolute Lawes. 1693Apol. Clergy Scot. 25 A stretch of Arbitrary Power, never heard of in Scotland. 1718Hickes & Nelson Kettlewell ii. xlii. 145 None could be more zealous in putting the King upon the Stretch of his Prerogative. 1757Hume Hist. Gt. Brit., Chas. II, ii. II. 187 His ministers..could not forbear making very extraordinary stretches of authority. 1759Bp. Hurd Moral Dialogues iv. 133 Her [Q. Eliz.] parliaments were disposed to wave all disputes about the stretch of her prerogative, from a sense of their own and the common danger. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. v. 69 Neither himself [Chas. I] nor his people seemed able to distinguish between the arbitrary stretch, and the legal exertion, of prerogative. 1771Goldsm. Hist. Eng. IV. 14 These stretches of power naturally led the lords and commons into some degree of opposition. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) V. 449 The determination of the Judges.., so far from being considered as an unwarrantable stretch of their authority, must on the contrary be acknowledged to have been a measure of great public utility. 1849H. Martineau Hist. Peace iv. xii. (1877) III. 95 Public sympathy was with them, as with men punished by a stretch of law for a nominal offence. 1874Green Short Hist. viii. §5. 510 As daring a stretch of the prerogative superseded what was known as Knox's Liturgy.
c. An exaggerated statement. on the stretch (nonce-phrase): using exaggeration, ‘drawing the long bow’.
1710–11Swift Jrnl. to Stella 1 Jan., That's a d―ned lie of your chimney being carried to the next house with the wind... My Lord Hertford would have been ashamed of such a stretch. 1782H. Cowley Which is the Man? iv ii, Hyperbole! What's that? Why, that's as much as to say, a stretch. 1834Marryat P. Simple xxxi, It a'n't that I might not stretch now and then,..but..he's always on the stretch... He never tells the truth except by mistake.
d. An exercise of imagination, understanding, etc. beyond ordinary limits. Now freq. in phr. by any (or no) stretch of the imagination.
1781F. Burney Diary June, [His] supposed enmity to Merlin is, indeed, a stretch of that absurd creature's imagination. 1803Med. Jrnl. IX. 26 It requires no great stretch of understanding to know that the same practice will not answer in all climates. 1828Lytton Pelham lxx, Every day the ministers are filling up the minor places, and it requires a great stretch of recollection in a politician to remember the absent. 1839J. Martineau Stud. Christianity iii. (1858) 111 But this was a stretch of charity too great for any Hebrew. 1841Dickens Barn. Rudge i, Indeed it needed no very great stretch of fancy to detect in it other resemblances to humanity. 1862Sporting Mag. Nov. 329 It required no great stretch of intellect to acquit the officers honourably on the evidence. 1942T. Bailey Pink Camellia xv. 122 Peter could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be compared to that Satan of the Scriptures who came so inopportunely to the Garden. 1957Pract. Wireless XXXIII. 573/2 Most neutral leads..have registered between 5 and 25 volts R.M.S., voltages which cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be called lethal. 1977A. Ecclestone Staircase for Silence iv. 77 The church they belong to seems hopelessly stuck fast in a way of life that by no stretch of the imagination can be described in terms of leaven or salt or light.
e. An undue extension of scope or application. stretch of language: the use of words or expressions with undue latitude of meaning.
1849Grote Greece ii. xxxix, (1862) III. 412 This bold stretch of exegetical conjecture. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. App. 431 With reference to this hypothesis, I will only say that it is a bold stretch of analogies. 1875W. K. Clifford Lect. & Ess. (1879) I. 229 It is only by a stretch of language that we can be said to desire that which is inconceivable. 1905R. Broughton Waif's Progr. xiv. 164 It could not, by any stretch of language, be considered a good thing for any young woman to be taken under the..wing of Lady Tennington.
3. a. furthest stretch, utmost stretch: the utmost degree to which a thing can be extended. Now rare or Obs.
1558in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) Table I, For castinge and ymployeinge of the stuffe to the furdeste stretche of sarvice. 1687Atterbury Answ. Consid. Spirit Luther 45 Quotations..which, in their utmost stretch, can signify no more then that Luther lay under severe agonies of mind. 1712Granville Unnatural Flights Poetry 65 This is the utmost Stretch that Nature can, And all beyond is fulsome, false, and vain. 1713Guardian No. 147 ⁋2 He did not exceed, but went to the utmost stretch of his Income. 1715Pope Iliad I. Pref. B 1, The utmost Stretch of human Study, Learning, and Industry,..can never attain to this. 1741Richardson Pamela (1824) I. 199 She shall know it all, said he; and I defy the utmost stretch of your malice.
†b. Utmost degree, acme. Obs.
1742Richardson Pamela III. 182 [It] was the very Stretch of shameless Wickedness.
4. Strain or tension of mental or bodily powers; strained exertion. (Figurative use of 1 g.) Chiefly in phrases.
†a. on the stretch, on her stretches (said of a hawk): making a long swooping flight. Obs.
c1622Fletcher Prophetess iv. iv, And scatter 'em, as an high towring Falcon on her Stretches, severs the fearfull fowl. 1636Massinger Bashful Lover iii. ii, See with what winged speed they climb the hill Like Falcons on the stretch to seise the prey.
b. † at the full stretch (obs.), upon full stretch, on the stretch: with strain of the physical powers; chiefly, making full speed.
1697Dryden æneis v. 259 They row At the full stretch, and shake the Brazen Prow. 1711Addison Spect. No. 56 ⁋3 He saw the Apparition of a milk-white Steed, with a young Man on the Back of it, advancing upon full Stretch after the Souls of about an hundred Beagles. 1768J. Byron Narr. Patagonia (ed. 2) 221 While their horse is upon full stretch. 1797S. James Narr. Voy. 175 To return to our own ship. We were now on the stretch for Europe. 1839Laws of Coursing in Youatt's Dog (1845) App. 262 She [a hare] turns of her own accord to gain ground homeward, when both dogs are on the stretch after her. 1893Stevenson Catriona xvi, About fifty seconds after two I was in the saddle and on the full stretch for Stirling.
c. on the († full) stretch: in a state of mental strain, making intense effort; so to put, set upon the (full) stretch. Now chiefly at full stretch: to capacity; working fully or as hard as possible.
1683Dryden Life Plutarch 24 His memory was always on the stretch to receive..their discourses. 1691Norris Pract. Disc. (1716) II. 98 We cannot live always upon the Stretch; our Faculties will not bear constant Pleasure any more than constant Pain. 1692Atterbury Serm. (Ps. l. 14) (1726) I. 23 The Praise and Admiration of God..sets our Faculties upon their full Stretch. 1711Steele Spect. No. 38 ⁋1 You might see his Imagination on the Stretch to find out something uncommon. 1722De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 318 This set all..heads upon the stretch, to inquire. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 361 Craft and cozenage..put our faculties to the stretch, and lay the foundation of prudence. 1771Wesley Wks. (1872) V. 272 He is on the full Stretch to save their Souls. 1778Sir J. Reynolds Disc. viii. (1876) 443 The writers of every age and country, where taste has begun to decline,..are always on the stretch; never deviate..a moment from the pompous and the brilliant. 1796Ann. Reg., Hist. 108 His thoughts were uninterruptedly on the stretch. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xiv. 277 The inmates of Sisera's harem..are on the stretch of expectation for the sight of..their champion. 1866A. Halliday in Dickens etc., Mugby Junction, Engine-driver 26/2 Me and my stoker were on the stretch all the time, doing two things at once—attending to the engine and looking out. 1884H. A. Taine in Contemp. Rev. Oct. 521 His business keeps his mind on the stretch. 1934G. B. Shaw On Rocks i. 221, I am an overworked..man,..having to keep my mind at full stretch all the time struggling with problems. 1955Times 1 June 10/1 United States tire manufacturers are still working at full stretch. 1977Evening Post (Nottingham) 27 Jan. 4/5 Wilford power station, Nottingham, has been at full stretch to meet heavy demand.
d. Exhausting effort or strain of mind. Now rare.
1791Boswell Johnson I. Advt. ⁋2 The stretch of mind and prompt assiduity by which so many conversations were preserved. 1814Jane Austen Mansf. Park ix, The greater length of the service, however, I admit to be sometimes too hard a stretch upon the mind. c1815― Persuasion (1818) II. viii. 148 The horror and distress you were involved in—the stretch of mind, the wear of spirits. 1859Boyd Recreat. Country Parson iii. 117 Mental work is much the greater stretch; and it is strain, not time, that kills.
†5. to give stretch to: to allow to act unchecked. Obs.
1777Burgoyne Proclam. in Gentl. Mag. XLVII. 360/2, I have but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction,..to overtake the hardened enemies of Great-Britain.
6. Extent in time or space.
a. An unbroken continuance of some one employment, occupation, or condition, during a period of time; an uninterrupted ‘spell’ of work, rest, prosperity, etc. Chiefly in phrase at one or a stretch, upon or on a stretch, rarely at the stretch: without intermission, continuously (during the time specified or implied); [cf. G. in einer strecke].
1689Lond. Gaz. No. 2451/3 So [we] continued Battering upon a Strech till five in the Afternoon. 1693Norris Pract. Disc. (1711) III. 134 God will then proceed to the highest actuation of the Soul..so that her whole Life shall be but one constant Stretch of Thought. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. III. 163 They will trot..between fifty and sixty English miles, at one stretch. 1799J. King in Corr. W. Fowler (1907) 32 We are much in at Sunderland. We are eight nights in upon a stretch, out of twenty one. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. ix, The halt's gane now, unless he has to walk ower mony miles at a stretch. 1825Waterton Wand. S. Amer. i. (1903) 2 Sometimes you see level ground on each side of you, for two or three hours at a stretch. 1834Marryat P. Simple vii, He can snore for fourteen hours on a stretch. 1841Thackeray Gt. Hoggarty Diam. i, We always played seven hours on a stretch. 1851Macaulay in Trevelyan Life & Lett. (1880) II. 215, I read the last five books at a stretch. 1857Trollope Barchester T. xiii, I saw her talking to him for half an hour at the stretch. 1879‘Ouida’ Cecil Castlemaine 7 His rider had been in boot and saddle twenty-four hours at the stretch. 1885Law Times LXXIX. 206/1 He was unable..to walk more than five miles at a stretch. 1887Jessopp Arcady vii. 214 He..gave us..accounts of the number of hours he had kept on working at a stretch. 1900Law Rep., App. Cases 405 The net remains fixed for periods as long as six hours at a stretch.
b. An extent in duration; a (more or less long) period of time.
1698Norris Pract. Disc. (1707) IV. 216 Could I lengthen out my span to an Antediluvian stretch, what should I be the better? 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iv. xiv, If you..had been fretted out of..your mind, for a stretch of months together. 1892E. Reeves Homeward Bound 102 We now have a stretch of eleven days before us, in which..we shall cross the Equator..and reach a new world at Colombo. 1905Treves Other Side of Lant. ii. xvii. (1906) 118 To be still unforgotten after a stretch of years.
c. A continuous journey or march. Now colloq.
1699Bentley Phal. 441 To go from Syracuse to Alexandria and back again in a Morning, and on foot too over the Sea, is a stretch something extraordinary. 1715Addison Freeholder No. 3 ⁋2 Upon this alarm we made incredible stretches towards the South, to gain the Fastnesses of Preston. 1819Scott Leg. Montrose xviii, I made a stretch of four miles with six of my people in the direction of Inverlochy. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop i, ‘A long way, wasn't it, Kit?’ said the little old man. ‘Why then, it was a goodish stretch, master,’ returned Kit.
d. Naut. A continuous sail on one tack.
1675H. Teonge Diary (1825) 42 All the last night wee were becalmed, but this morning a fayre gale, which carrys us smoothly over this longe stretch. 1688in Third Collect. Papers Pres. Junct. Affairs 2 Next day, upon Tide of Ebb, they made a Stretch, and made a Watch above a League, and then stood Westward. 1823W. Scoresby Jrnl. 131 In the evening, we made a stretch toward the land. 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxxvi, Two long stretches..brought us into the roads. 1845J. Coulter Adv. Pacific iv. 31 Having made a stretch off the coast about forty miles, we had a fine view of the tops of the Andes, covered with snow. 1883Clark Russell Sailors' Lang. s.v., A long stretch is to sail a long distance on one tack.
e. Extent in length; a continuous length or distance; a continuous portion of a journey, of the length of a road, river, or the like.
1661Hickeringill Jamaica 36 Some of them (I have seen) six or seven yards long, but their usual stretch, may bate the half. 1791T. Newte Tour Eng. & Scot. 294 The canal is carried on in almost a straight line for 2000 toises, all cut through a rock, which occasioned so great an expence, that in this stretch of the canal, they found themselves obliged to restrict the breadth of the upper surface of the water to five toises. Ibid. 297 This arch was thrown over in three stretches, having only a centre of thirty feet, which was shifted on small rollers from one stretch to another. 1872‘Mark Twain’ Roughing It xviii. (1882) 99 It was nothing but a watering depot in the midst of the stretch of sixty-eight miles. 1876Hardy Ethelberta xxxi, There was, as the crow flies, a stretch of thirty-five miles between the two places. 1885B. Harte Maraja iii, Dead leaves of roses..lay thick on the empty stretch of brown verandah. 1908G. Cormack Egypt in Asia ii. 18 This range [Lebanon] has an unbroken stretch of a hundred miles.
f. An expanse of land or water (usually, of uniform character).
1829Scott Anne of G. xv, You will see a species of thicket, or stretch of low bushes. 1850D. G. Mitchell Reveries Bachelor 151, I see a broad stretch of meadow. 1851Whittier In Peace 9 A slumberous stretch of mountain-land. 1873Black P'cess Thule i. 3 He may have recalled mechanically the names of these stretches of water. 1885Manch. Exam. 16 June 4/6 To dwell at Windsor, with its wide stretches of park and woodland and river. 1898‘H. S. Merriman’ Roden's Corner xxxii. 337 The wide stretch of sand was entirely deserted when they emerged from the narrow streets. 1912J. L. Myres Dawn of Hist. ix. 203 Macedon and Thrace, which also offer some stretches of pasture.
g. Linguistics. A definable extent (of text or speech).
1961M. A. K. Halliday in Word XVII. 250 Language is patterned activity. At the formal level, the patterns are patterns of meaningful organization: certain regularities are exhibited over certain stretches of language activity. 1964English Studies XLV (Suppl.). 56 It certainly seems worth while trying to bring more system into stretch-of-speech analysis in general by studying the potentialities and realities of absence of sound, sound zero. 1967D. G. Hays Introd. Computational Linguistics x. 171 As the text is being prepared, each stretch between unit boundaries is compared with the contents of the exclusion list. 1972J. McH. Sinclair Course in Spoken Eng.: Grammar 3 Strict grammatical relationships need only be made across stretches of language a few words long. 1973A. H. Sommerstein Sound Pattern Anc. Greek i. 1 The final chapter..contains a summary..of the rules of the part of Greek phonology that I have investigated, a stretch of text written in the form it would have before the application of these rules, [etc.].
7. slang.
a. A yard (measure).
1811Lex. Balatron. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict. s.v., Five or ten stretch signifies five or ten yards.
b. A term of hard labour; twelve months as a term of imprisonment. Also loosely, a prison sentence (freq. with preceding numeral signifying the number of years). Also transf.
1821Life D. Haggart (ed. 2) 138, I was then sentenced to lag for seven stretch. 1857‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 21 Stretch, hard labour, in prison. Th[ieves]. Stretch, twelve months hard labour. Th. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms iv, There's a lot of law! How did I learn it? I had plenty of time in Berrima Gaol—worse luck—my first stretch. 1949‘M. Innes’ Journeying Boy ix. 109 If we were getting him a stretch, we could go to bed feeling we had done something useful. 1951P. Branch Lion in Cellar xx. 222 He's in Joe Gurr again. He got nicked in Cardiff on a snout gaff... It's only a two stretch and a lot of the Boys had their collars felt. 1957G. Thomas Gazooka 42, I owed it to him now to see that he would not be saddled with another stretch under the probation officer or in a reform school for an offence which was not..immoral. 1960S. Claydon Lesson in Murder v. 75, I was going to serve my stretch, come out, and get a job. 1967J. Morgan Involved 40 What do you think he'll get for this lot, guv'nor, ten? I suppose a ten stretch is the least he can expect. 1976K. Bonfiglioli Something Nasty in Woodshed ix. 106 ‘Porridge’..means penal servitude. There is a legend..that if..on the last morning of your ‘stretch’, you do not eat up all your nice porridge, you will be back in durance vile within the year.
8. Chiefly U.S.
a. Racing. (See quot. 1895.) Also attrib. (esp. = ‘home-stretch’) as stretch run, stretch turn.
1895G. J. Manson Sporting Dict., Stretch, the straight or nearly straight sides of a course as distinguished from the curves or bends. 1903Publ. Ledger (Philad.) 24 June 13/9 Mexoana..took command in the stretch and won by two lengths from the favorite. 1934D. Runyon in Collier's 3 Mar. 42/3 Gallant Godfrey comes to the conclusion that Westrope is working on him in a stretch run. 1944Sun (Baltimore) 14 Apr. 14/1 Backers of Sollure had no worries all through the stretch run. 1949Time 10 Oct. 42/2 They had less reason to thank their own bats than the batty stretch-run performance of the Cardinals. 1972N.Y. Times 4 June v. 1/4 Shortly after the field hit the stretch turn, Run the Gantlet moved into the lead position. 1978Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 2e/1 Craig's Corner, a 7-year-old gelding, won the Carolina Cup steeplechase at Camden, S.C., with a strong stretch run before a race record crowd of 30,000-plus. 1979Internat. Herald Tribune 31 Oct. 23/3 It would be the clubhouse turn in the United States, but this was the Vaal Racing Club in the Orange Free State of South Africa, where the horses run clockwise, so it was really the stretch turn.
b. home-stretch: see home-stretch. back stretch = back-straight s.v. back- B.
1839Picayune (New Orleans) 2 Apr. 2/2 He went to work himself, soon passed the old black, made all sorts of a brush while rounding the last turn and commencing the back stretch. 1868H. Woodruff Trotting Horse Amer. xii. 122 On the back-stretch..Mr. Duffy asked me if I could ride it out without tiring. 1903A. Adams Log of Cowboy xv. 237 He was speeding her on the back stretch. 1931Daily Express 21 Sept. 11/5 Box stalls were built around the walls, while in other parts of the ballroom were reproduced in miniature the back stretch and the home stretch of the track. 1933Boys' Mag. XLVII. 119/2 He shot by a little group of runners, and in the backstretch was hard upon the heels of the four leaders. 1948Life 21 June 32 (caption) Dewey, Taft and Stassen will get away fast, but watch out for Dark Horse Vandenberg on the backstretch. 1970Toronto Daily Star 24 Sept. 21/4 The jock had to check her twice on the backstretch.
c. transf. and fig.
1949Sun (Baltimore) 9 Aug. 14/3 Baseball's 1949 stretch is now only a few furlongs away. Oddly enough, conditions in the two leagues have been somewhat reversed since last April. 1957Baseball Digest Jan.–Feb. 15 Despite Joss' great work in the stretch, the season ended with the Indians in second place. 1972Publishers' Weekly 12 June 9 (Advt.), Put your money on Miss Elizabeth Arden to win in the stretch. 1976Billings (Montana) Gaz. 20 June 1e/3 Friday when he led the second round by one shot, Mahaffey expressed disappointment that shoddy putting down the stretch prevented him from running away from the field. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 6 Nov. 5/1 Ford, at the very last, was doing something right. Most of the polls showed he was closing fast on Jimmy Carter, who was limping badly down the stretch.
9. Mining and Geol. Course or direction of a seam or a stratum with regard to the points of the compass: = streak n.1 5, strike n. 8.
1799Kirwan Geol. Ess. 294 The stretch or course of seams of coal, and of their attendant strata, is commonly between E. and W. or N.E. and S.W. 1805Jameson Min. Descr. Dumfries 37 If we wish to discover the general stretch and dip of the strata of an extensive district.
10. Spinning. The length of spun yarn which is wound on the spindles at each journey of the mule-carriage towards the roller-beam: = draw n. 6.
1835Ure Philos. Manuf. 312 The mule..makes in general three stretches in a minute. 1891R. Marsden Cotton Spinning (ed. 4) 197 This wheel is an intermittent spinning wheel, spinning a ‘draw’ or ‘stretch’, so called, probably, from its being the length obtainable by the outstretching of the spinster's arm.
Add:11. Short for stretch jet, limousine s.v. *stretch v. 24 c. colloq. (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
1973Lebende Sprachen XVIII. 71/2 The first ‘stretch’, which produced the 500 Series as a successor to the original 200/400 Series, took the capacity up from 74 to 109. 1977N.Y. Times Mag. 19 June 70/3 This big Mercedes stretch pulls up with them sittin' in the back wavin' at me. 1978Aviation Week & Space Technol. 23 Oct. 43/1 Boeing planners see a stretch emerging in the latter half of the 1980s. 1981Ibid. 15 June 36/1 The 767 stretch, which Boeing originally had considered for 1985, has been moved back to at least 1986, again because of demand. 1982N.Y. Times 31 Dec. c6/5 There are basically four kinds of limos for rent. There is the ‘stretch’, which seats six comfortably and usually contains such luxury items as a bar, an ice bucket, a stereo and television console. 1987Flight Internat. 27 June 4/3 If we co-operated on an A320 stretch we would do some of the design and build and, perhaps, final assembly. 1988P. Monette Borrowed Time iv. 95 A line of six limousines turned in at Le Mondrian, Prince and his entourage in the lead in a purple stretch.
▪ II. stretch, v.|strɛtʃ|
Forms: 1 streccan, 3 strecchen, 3–6 strec(c)he, 4 strecce, strechche, 4–5 strech, 4–7 stretche, 5 strac(c)he, 5–6 stratche, 6 stratch, streych, 6–7 streache, streatch, 7 streach, 4– stretch. pa. tense. α. 1 strehte, 3 stræhte, streahte, strehte, streiȝhte, streþte, 3–4 streihte, 4 streiȝt(e, streyght(e, streyt, 4–5 streight(e, streyȝt(e, streght(e; β. 3–4 strahte, 4 straughte, strawght, strawhte, strawte, 4–5 straght(e, strauȝt(e, strauhte, strawȝte, 4, 6–7 straucht, 5 strawcht, 5, 7 straught; γ. 4 stretchide, 4–5 stretchid, 5 stratched, strechid, 6 streched, 6–7 strecht, 6–8 stretcht, 5– stretched. pa. pple. α. 2–3 istreiht, 3 ystreith, 4 streyhte, 4–5 (i)streiȝt, 4–5 streight(e, streiht, 5 streght, ystreight, (Sc. strecht); β. 2–4 istraht(e, 3–5 straught, 4 straȝt, (i)straut, strawght, 4–5 (i)strauȝt, 5 Sc. straucht, 6 strauth; γ. 4 strecchid, stretchid, 5 stracched, 6–7 stretcht, 5– stretched. See also i-stretch, streek vbs.
[Com. WGer.: OE. stręccan = OFris. strekka, MLG., MDu. strecken (mod.Du. strekken), OHG. strecchen (MHG., mod.G. strecken); the MSw. sträkkia (mod.Sw. sträcka), Norw. strekkja, strekka, Da. strække are from LG. The WGer. type is *strakkjan, f. *strakko- straight, rigid, stiff (MLG., MDu., mod.Du. strak, OHG. stracch, mod.G. strack), whence *strakkǣjan (OHG. stracchēn) to have extension, be spread out. The root may be a metathetic var. of that found in stark a.; the OE. stræc, strec, strǽc, severe, harsh, is perh. unconnected.]
I. To place at full length.
1. a. trans. To prostrate (oneself, one's body); to extend (one's limbs) in a reclining posture; refl. to recline at full length. Also with † along, † down (obs.), out. Phrase, to stretch one's length.
c900Bæda's Hist. iv. xxi, He..hine wæs in ᵹebed streccende [L. prosternens se] æt lichoman þæs Godes weres. c1200Vices & Virtues 63 Þat he lið istreiht upe ðare bare ierðe. c1205Lay. 25994 He..adun lai bi þan fure & his leomen strahte. c1325Chron. Eng. (Ritson) 756 So schert he [the stone coffin] was ywroht, Istraht ne myhte he ligge noht. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love ii. xiv. (Skeat) 99 And these wordes sayd, she streyght her on length, and rested a whyle. c1480Henryson Fox, Wolf & Cadger 100 He..strawcht him doun in middis of the way, As he wer deid he feinȝeit him. 1481Caxton Godfrey cciv. 300 They fylle doun flat and stratched in the chirches they kyssed..therthe. 1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. i. 10 Why rather (Sleepe) lyest thou in smoakie Cribs, Vpon vneasie Pallads stretching thee. 1600― A.Y.L. iii. ii. 253 There lay hee stretch'd along like a Wounded knight. 1697Dryden Virg. Past., Ecl. i. 5 Stretch'd at Ease you sing your happy Loves. a1700Evelyn Diary 10 Nov. 1644, There is a chayre to sleepe in with the leggs stretcht out. 1750Gray Elegy 103 There at the foot of yonder nodding beech..His listless length at noontide would he stretch. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxviii, While I was stretched on my straw. 1794Mrs. Radcliffe Myst. Udolpho l, On the hearth were several dogs stretched in sleep. 1799Wordsw. Poet's Epit. 59 Here stretch thy body at full length. 1809Malkin Gil Blas vi. i. (Rtldg.) 213 We stretched our length upon the grass, and soon fell fast asleep. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop v, Daniel Quilp..climbed on to the desk..and stretching his short length upon it went to sleep. a1852M. Arnold Lines Kensington Gard. 22 Scarce fresher is the mountain sod Where the tired angler lies, stretch'd out. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. vii. 237 He was generally to be found stretched..upon a rug before the fire. 1908R. Bagot A. Cuthbert vii. 77 He stretched himself on his desk-chair.
b. To lay (a person) flat. Also (now dial.), to straighten the limbs (of a dead person); to ‘lay out’ for burial (= streek v. 2); (slang), to kill (a person). Cf. lay v.1 56.
a1225Juliana 26 (Royal MS.) Þe reue..grede: strupeð hire steort naket & strecheð hire on þe eorðe. c1275Signs of Death 8 in O.E. Misc., On flore me þe streccheþ And leyþ þe on bere. c1275Serving Christ 6 Ibid., And þolede dom vor his duþe, þat he wes ded strauht. a1375Joseph Arim. 519 Þe stiward of Eualak..lai streiht on þe feld, striken to þe eorþe. 1612Shelton Quix. iii. i. (1620) 117 Striking me downe on the place where I yet lie straught. 1697Dryden æneis v. 495 And by the Stroak of his resistless Hand, [he] Stretch'd the vast Bulk upon the yellow Sand. 1757W. Wilkie Epigoniad iii. 67 Andremon first,..Of life bereft, lay stretch'd upon the sand. 1839Carleton Fardorougha vi, Confusion to the ring he'll ever put an her! I'd see her stretched [foot-n. dead] first. 1847Prescott Peru iv. v. (1850) II. 341 The struggle lasted for some minutes, till both of Pizarro's pages were stretched by his side. 1902S. E. White Blazed Trail xxx, He rushed on Dyer, and with one full, clean in-blow stretched him stunned on the dock. 1902Kipling Traffics & Discov. (1904) 11 He said if you stretched a man at his prayers you'd have to hump his bad luck before the Throne as well as your own. 1907J. H. Patterson Man-Eaters of Tsavo v. 51, I..found seven badly injured men lying stretched out on the ground. 1953M. Gilbert Fear to Tread viii. 107 Once..Annie had a husband. She got tired of him, so she ‘stretched him with a bottle’.
†c. To spread out on the ground; to make (a bed). Obs.
a1000Ags. Gosp. Mark xi. 8 Maneᵹa hyra reaf on þone weᵹ strehton [L. straverunt]. c1175Lamb. Hom. 3 Heo nomen heore claþes..and strehiten [? read streihten] under þa assa fet. c1475Partenay 1005 Forth anon the bede [was] streight And made redy.
†d. long streight, straught: extended at length.
a1366Chaucer Rom. Rose 1021 Hir tresses yelowe, and longe straughten, Unto hir heles doun they raughten. c1374― Troylus iv. 1163 He rist him up, and long streight he hir leyde. a1400Octouian 959 Thus they shall lye long straught Or that they go. 1609J. Davies (Heref.) Holy Rood A 4 b, Thinke that thou seest him on his face longe straught In Praier, and in Passion sweating Bloud. 1611― Sco. Folly clxvi. 79 O Sweete, deere sweete,..Quoth Citheris (long straught) vnto her deere.
†e. intr. for refl. To fall to the ground; also, to lie down at full length. Obs.
c1400Song Roland 769 Stedes in that stound strechid to ground. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxiv, Stretch down in the stern of that boat, and let me wrap this cloak about thee.
2. a. To extend (the arms) laterally; to expand (the wings), esp. for flight.
c1205Lay. 28007 Arður þa up aras and strehte his armes. a1240Ureisun in O.E. Hom. I. 185 Hwi nam ich in þin earmes. In þin earmes swa istrahte and isprad on rode. 1382Wyclif 3 Kings vi. 27 Forsothe the cherubyn strauȝten out her weengis. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xxxv. (1869) 194 And hadde wynges redy streiht for to flee to þe skyes. 1692Prior Ode Imit. Hor. iii. ii. 107 Let Fear look back, and stretch her hasty Wing, Impatient to secure a base Retreat. 1742R. Seagrave Hymn, Rise, my Soul, and stretch thy Wings. 1814Cary Dante, Purg. xi. 39 That ye have power To stretch your wing, which e'en to your desire Shall lift you.
b. Of a tree: To extend (its branches).
1382Wyclif Ecclus. xxiv. 22, I as a terebynt streiȝte out [1388 stretchide forth] my braunchis. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 2058 The fyr..That..twenty fadme of brede the armes straughte. 1815Shelley Alastor 562 A pine, Rock-rooted, stretched athwart the vacancy Its swinging boughs.
3. a. refl. To straighten oneself; to rise to full height († also with up); also, to draw up the body, as from a stooping, cramped, or relaxed posture; to straighten the body and extend the arms, as a manifestation of weariness or langour (chiefly coupled with yawn).
c1325Chron. Eng. (Ritson) 772 And a cripel eke anon Ther him strahte ant myhte gon. c1384Chaucer H. Fame 1373 She Hir tho so wonderliche streighte, That with hir feet she therthe reighte, And with hir heed she touched hevene. 1470–85Malory Arthur xx. xxi. 836 Than he stratched hym vp & stode nere syr Gauwayn. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xxxv. (Percy Soc.) 182 He stretched hym up and lyft his axe a lofte. 1550Lyndesay Sqr. Meldrum 374 He lap vpon his Cursour wicht, And straucht him in his stirroppis richt. 1563Sackville Induct. Mirr. Mag. xix, I strecht my selfe, and strayt my hart reuiues. 1590Cobler Canterb. 69 At length the Farmar awoke, and stretching himself, finding he was naked, [etc.]. 1602W. Vaughan Direct. Health (1626) 165 First of all in the morning when you are about to rise, stretch your selfe strongly. 1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 3 Wrastlers, who stretch themselves up on their feet, so much the stronglier..by how much their adversary is tall. 1714Mandeville Fable Bees (1733) II. 340 Stretching ourselves before others, whilst we are yawning, is an absolute breach of good manners. 1829Scott Anne of G. x, Yawning and stretching himself like one whose slumbers had been broken by no welcome summons. 1858Lytton What will he do? iii. iv, Mop [the dog]..rose and stretched himself. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxii, Jim soon woke up and stretched himself.
b. intr. for refl.
a1586[see stretching vbl. n.1]. 1614J. Taylor (Water P.) Nipping Abuses D 1, The seuenth was Sloth,..Who being cald, did gape, and yawne, and stretch. 1704Cibber Careless Husb. v. 62 And by that time you stretcht, and Gap'd him Heartily out of Patience.
c. to stretch one's legs: to straighten the lower limbs from a sitting position; usually, to relieve by walking the stiffness or fatigue caused by sitting; to take a walk for exercise.
1607A. Gorges in Purchas Pilgrims x. xiv. (1625) IV. 1951 [We] went ashoare, to stretch our legs in the Isle of Flores. 1632Lithgow Trav. v. 205, I would often fetch a walke, to stretch my legs, that were stifled with a stumbling beast. 1653Walton Angler i. 1, I have stretch'd my legs up Totnam Hil to overtake you. 1779G. Keate Sketches fr. Nat. (ed. 2) II. 208, I was glad after so long a confinement, to stretch my legs, and determined to walk home. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. v, Mr. Squeers got down at almost every stage—to stretch his legs, as he said. 1872Earl of Pembroke & G. H. Kingsley S. Sea Bubbles i. 36 About every hour we stopped to change horses, when we took the opportunity to stretch our legs. 1899Rodway In Guiana Wilds 30 Allan..began to feel cramped from remaining so long in one position; he wanted to stretch his legs.
†d. intr. To strut. In quot. with it. Obs.
1619H. Hutton Fellies Anat. D 4, Cornuted Phœbe, in her coach, doth prance: Bacchus..doth stretch it on the stage.
II. To put forward, protrude.
4. a. trans. To put forth, extend (the hand, an arm or leg, the neck, head); † to extend, hold out (a weapon, a staff). Also (now almost always) with adv., forth, out, forward.
a1000Ags. Gosp., John xxi. 18 Þonne þu ealdest þu strecst [L. extendes] þine handa. c1205Lay. 21227 He stræhte scait stærcne. a1225Leg. Kath. 2233 Streche forð þine swire scharp sweord to underfonne. 1375Barbour Bruce ii. 348 Thai straucht thar speris. c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. II. 198 Stretche out þin hond. 1382― Exod. x. 13 And Moyses strauȝte out the ȝerde vpon the loond of Egipte. 1390Gower Conf. l. 195 And thanne hire handes to the hevene Sche strawhte. c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iii. xxxvii. (1869) 155 She..a yens me strauhte hire handes. 1577Kendall Flowers of Epigr. 107 His snout was stretched forth. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 50 God..that stretcheth out his armes from morning to euening to couer his children. c1611Chapman Iliad vii. 164 He stretcht his hand, and into it, the Herald put the lot. 1696R. H. Sch. Recreat. 68 [Fencing] To Elonge. This is to Streach forward your Right Arm and Leg, and [etc.]. 1777Potter æschylus, Prometh. Chain'd 62 To stretch my supplicating hands. 1784Cowper Task ii. 825 So when the Jewish leader stretch'd his arm,..a race obscene..came forth Polluting Egypt. 1804Abernethy Surg. Observ. 189 He stretched out his right arm when required. 1812H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Playho. Musings 27 These stretch'd forth a pole From the wall's pinnacle. 1812Byron Ch. Har. ii. lxviii, The Suliotes stretch'd the welcome hand, Led them o'er rocks and past the dangerous swamp. 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. ii. vi, Swindlery and Blackguardism have stretched hands across the Channel. 1838Dickens Nich. Nick. xiv, The guests..stretched their necks forward and listened attentively. 1847W. C. L. Martin Ox 132/2 The animal staggers.., its flanks heave, the head is stretched out. 1851Thackeray Eng. Hum. i. (1876) 153 His hand was constantly stretched out to relieve an honest man. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 79, I stretched my hand towards him. 1904Kath. C. Thurston J. Chilcote iii. (1912) 29 Moving straight forward, he paused by the grate and stretched his hands to the blaze.
b. absol. To extend one's hand, reach for something.
a1375Joseph Arim. 544 Sone þenne he starte vp and streiȝte to his hache. 1775Goldsm. tr. Scarron's Com. Romance II. 149 Whenever they stretched for the holy water, a thousand hands made tenders of their service.
†c. intr. Of an arm: To be extended. Obs.
c1350Will. Palerne 2957 Of ȝour riȝt arm þat ouer rome streyt, I se wel þe signifiaunce. 1765Angelo Sch. Fencing 7 When the arm stretches forth in order to thrust, the foot must follow at the same time.
5. a. To hold out, hand, reach (something). Now only Naut. in phrase (see quot. 1644).
c1450Merlin xxxii. 639 Than he drough oute a letter..and straught it to the Kynge. 1644H. Manwayring Seamans Dict. 103 When they goe to hoyse a yard, or hale the sheate, they say, stretch fore-ward the Hilliards, or the sheates: that is deliver along that part (which they must hale by) into the mens hands. 1849Lytton K. Arthur vi. xlix, ‘Sir Host,’ said Gawaine, as he stretched his platter, ‘I'll first the pie discuss, and then the matter.’
†b. fig. (a) To direct (one's hope, trust) to an object. (b) To hold out, extend (relief) to a person. Obs.
c1000ælfric Hom. I. 252 Strece ðærto þinne hiht. c1400Apol. Loll. 91 Þei þat were helid were not helid sympli bi þe touching, but for þe trust þat þei strechid finaly in to God. 1711in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 184 The potentats of that religion have stood idle..without stretching the least relief.
†6. To set up (a standard). Obs.
c1400Sege Jerus. 21/385 (E.E.T.S.) He streyȝt up a standard. c1400Melayne 1185 All [nyghte on]e þe bent þay bade With standardes euen vp streghte.
†7. To emit (rays, streams); also intr. of a light, to be emitted in a certain direction. Obs.
c1205Lay. 17886 Þe leome þa strehte west riht a seouen bæmen wes idiht. Ibid. 17978 Þe oðer leome þe strahte [c 1275 streahte] west wunder ane lihte þat bið a dohter. c1400Destr. Troy 915 And as he [sc. the dragon] tilt out his tung with his tethe grym, He straght fro hym stremes all of styth venym. c1400Brut i. 64 By þe beem þat stracchet towarde Irland, is bitokenede þat ȝe shul bigete a douȝter þat shal be quene of Irland.
III. To direct a course.
†8.
a. To direct (one's course). Also refl. of a person. Obs.
a1225St. Marher. 9 He [the dragon] strahte him ant sturede toward tis meoke meiden. c1350Will. Palerne 3279 He..streiȝt him in-to the stabul þere þe stede stod. 1390Gower Conf. II. 296 He seith noght ones ‘grant merci’, Bot strauhte him forth to the cite. Ibid. III. 313 Towardes Tharse his cours he straghte.
b. To direct the course of (a ship, etc.); absol. to steer. Obs.
c1205Lay. 2887 Brecon þa strenges þe he mid strahte & he feol to folde. Ibid. 9750 To Tottenas heo come, strahten scipen to þan londe & eoden uppen stranden.
9. intr. To make one's way (rapidly or with effort). In later use coloured by sense 20 b.
c1205Lay. 27589 His cnihtes..mid muchelere strengðe þurh þat feht stræhten. 13..E.E. Allit. P. A. 971 To strech in þe strete þou has no vygour. Ibid. B. 905 Loke ȝe stemme no stepe, bot strechez on faste. c1350Will. Palerne 1113 Strecches forþ wiþ ȝour ost, stinteþ no lenger. 1390Gower Conf. II. 258 The Sail goth up, and forth thei strauhte. c1400Destr. Troy 1354 Thai..Streght into stretis and into stronge houses. c1430Chev. Assigne 220 The grypte eyþur a staffe in here honde & on here wey strawȝte. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 496 Crying Cormorants forsake the Sea, And stretching to the Covert wing their way. 1735Somerville Chase ii. 13 Then o'er the Lawn he [the Roe-buck] bounds, o'er the high Hills Stretches secure. 1810Scott Lady of L. iii. xiii, Stretch onward in thy fleet career! 1860Thackeray Lovel iv. (1861) 156, I stretch over Putney Heath, and my spirit resumes its tranquillity. 1861G. J. Whyte-Melville Good for N. xxvi. II. 2 Stretching away at the best pace a wiry little Australian horse..can command, rides an Englishman in the normal state of hurry peculiar to his countrymen.
†10. Of a stream: To run, flow swiftly. Obs.
c1205Lay. 27476 Stræhten after stretes blodie stremes.
11. Naut. To sail (esp. under crowd of canvas) continuously in one direction. Also with advs.
1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2251/4 The headmost..stretched to Windward, and there lay pecking at us, whilest his Companion was doing the same a Stern. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 388, I stretched over for California. 1719De Foe Crusoe i. (Globe) 142 Just as I had set my Mast and Sail, and the Boat began to stretch away, I saw [etc.]. 1776Cook 2nd Voy. iii. iii. II. 27 Then we tacked and stretched in for the island till near sun-set. 1809Collingwood in Naval Chron. XXII. 502 Our boats stretched out. 1832Marryat N. Forster v, They were stretching off the land. 1845J. Coulter Adv. in Pacific xv. 244 In a few days we put to sea, and stretched away to the northward of this group [of islands]. 1884‘H. Collingwood’ Under Meteor Flag 4 We stretched off the land, close-hauled upon the starboard tack.
IV. To (make to) reach; to give or have a certain extent.
12. trans. To place (something) so as to reach from one point to another, or across an interval in space.
a. with obj. something rigid. Obs. exc. techn.
a1225Juliana 56 (Royal MS.) Þat axtreo stod istraht on twa half in te twa stanene postles. a1300Cursor M. 3779 In slepe he say a ladder strauȝt Fro his heed to þe sky hit rauȝt. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 50 On those set⁓off's stretch your Plates.
b. To extend (something flexible, e.g. a cord or curtain) from one point to another or across a space, by drawing it out more or less straight.
This may be regarded as a weakening of sense 16, from which it is often indistinguishable.
c1430Pilgr. Lyf Manhode iv. xxviii. (1869) 191 And aboue was þe mast of þe ship dressed wher vpon heeng þe seyl ystreight. 1481Caxton Godfrey clxxvii. 261 They toke the hydes of the beestes that deyde and stratched them vpon thengynes for to kepe & defende them fro fyre. 1535Coverdale Isa. xl. 22 That he spredeth out the heauens as a coueringe, that he stretcheth them out, as a tent to dwell in. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 381 Then Weavers stretch your Stays upon the Weft. 1818Scott Br. Lamm. xiv, I ought to have torn away the veil which interested persons had stretched betwixt us. 1832Brewster Nat. Magic iv. 87 A black cloth should be stretched at some distance behind them. 1854tr. Hettner's Athens & Peloponnese 56 The dancers take hands and form a circle; to widen which they sometimes stretch handkerchiefs from hand to hand. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Stretch along a brace, to lay it along the decks in readiness for the men to lay hold of. 1884J. Marshall Tennis Cuts 85 We invented gloves; then we lined those gloves. After that, we stretched gut-strings across the gloves. 1907J. A. Hodges Elem. Photogr. (ed. 6) 87 A piece of clothes line, stretched across the room.
†c. To pitch (a tent). Also with out. Obs.
1382Wyclif Gen. xxxi. 25 And now Jacob hadde strauȝte [Vulg. extenderat; 1388 stretchid forth] a tabernacle in the hil. c1475Partenay 869 Tentes And pauilons streght and pight freshly Besyde a ualey, enmyddes a plain. 1536Stories & Proph. Scripture F iv b Moche wyder hath youre bryde the holy cherche stretched out and piched hyr tente. 1587D. Fenner Song of Songs i. 6 For why should I become like vnto one of those Which doeth stretch out his Tent fast by the flockes of thy fellowes?
†d. To draw out in a straight line. Obs.
1542Udall tr. Erasm. Apoph. 7 b, Yf thou stretch y⊇ walkynges that thou vsest at home, & laye theim on length by the space of fiue or sixe dayes together yu shalt easyly reache to Olympia.
13. a. † refl. (obs.) and intr. (rarely pass.) To have a specified extent in space; to be continuous to a certain point, or over a certain distance or area. Also with away, out, off.
In mod. use ordinarily implying a large extent; where this notion is not present the synonym extend is now preferred.
refl.1423Coventry Leet Bk. (1907) 50 A feld of Wylliam Wymeswold stretchyng hym-selff vnto a comyn hyȝe-way, þat is callyd the Deed-lane... The said way, þat is callyd Deed-lane, þat strechithe hym-selff fro the Span-brooke toward the Hill-Crosse. c1460Oseney Reg. 181 And j. Rodde of londe the wich strecchith hit-Selfe In lambescotestrete By the londe of William Sweyne. 1607T. Ridley View Civ. & Eccles. Law Contents A 1, That the second part hath eight books... That the third part stretcheth it selfe into eight bookes.
intr.1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 107 Þe kyngdom of Deyra tillede and streiȝte [L. extendebatur] from þe ryuer of Humber anon to þe ryuere of Tyne. 1390Gower Conf. I. 137 A tree..Whos heihte straghte up to the hevene. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) vi. 22 Araby strechez fra þe end of Caldee to þe last end of Affric. 1434Coventry Leet Bk. (1907) 157 Þe weye that stretcheth fro Cheylesmore Grene vnto Somerlesowe. 1542–3Act 34 & 35 Hen. VIII c. 12 §1 Allso oone litle Lane streatching from the saide waie to the Signe of the Bell at Drewrye Lane ende. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. i. iii, Minorque hath in length 60. miles, & in circuit 150. & to the East stretcheth from Maiorque 30. miles. 1603J. Davies (Heref.) Microcosmos, Extasie 238 Her nether Vesture strecht but her calfe, Yet lower rought then that aboue, by halfe. 1608Topsell Serpents 41 The place must be seared with a hot yron, so farre as the venom stretcheth. a1700Evelyn Diary 28 Jan. 1645, Pursuing the same noble [Appian] way..we found it to stretch from Capua to Rome itselfe. 1748Anson's Voy. i. vi. (ed. 4) 97 The Andes which skirt it, and stretch quite down to the water. 1788F. Burney Diary 13 Feb., Their green benches..stretched..along the whole left side of the Hall. 1848Dickens Dombey v, The dreary perspective of empty pews stretching away under the galleries. 1852Thackeray Esmond i. iii, The London road stretched away towards the rising sun. 1858Etheridge Life A. Clarke i. viii. (ed. 2) 128 The minister's family were to reside in the apartments on the ground-floor, the school-room stretching over all above. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. vii. 47 A steep slope stretches down to the Mer de Glace. 1894Blackmore Perlycross xviii. 149 Southward stretched the rich Perle valley.
passive.1652Nedham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 39 Whatsoever is stretcht forth on this side and within Mount Amanus, is the Territorie of Israel. 1867M. E. Herbert Cradle L. viii. 223 On one side is stretched the great plain of Esdraelon.
b. To have its length in a specified direction. ? Obs.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiii. 150 Þe walle..strechez fra þe south toward þe north. 1449in Cal. Proc. Chanc. Eliz. (1830) II. Pref. 54 The same hous by ground shall have a parclose walle, strecchyng along north and south duryng the seid length of lxvj fete. 1598W. Phillip tr. Langenes' Voy. Ships Holland E. Ind. 11 We put out with a North wind, the Bay stretching Northeast and Southwest. 1697Dryden æneis xi. 486 A Tract of Land..Along the Tyber, stretching to the West.
c. transf. with reference to time. nonce-uses.
1606Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. i. 46 There's not a minute of our liues should stretch Without some pleasure now. 1868Stanley Westm. Abb. iv. 263 Three statesmen stretch across the first half of the eighteenth century. 1898Jean A. Owen Hawaii iii. 53 The influence of these enterprising navigators is seen stretching on for some hundreds of years.
14. fig.
†a. To have a specified measure in amount, degree, power, etc.; to be adequate for some purpose. Obs.
refl.c1386Chaucer Melib. ⁋3015 Youre liberal grace and mercy strecchen hem ferther in-to goodnesse, than doon oure outrageouse giltes and trespas in-to wikkednesse.
intr.c1374Chaucer Troylus ii. 341 If ye be swich, your beautee may not strecche To make amendes of so cruel a dede. c1386― Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 534 As ferforth as my konnyng may strecche. 1418E.E. Wills (1882) 43 He will that..his brother..fynde his fadir..with the profitz of the place, as ferre as they wille strecche. 1466in Somerset Medieval Wills (1901) 210 And if my goodes will streche thereto I will than an honest preest have 9 marcs for a hoole yere to syng. c1572I. B. Let. to R.C. A ij, Some..whose vnderstanding can not stretche to a matter of so greate aduice. 1581Mulcaster Positions xxxvii. (1887) 143 You would haue your childe learned, but your purse will not streatch. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, i. ii. 62 Fal. Thou hast paid al there. Prin. Yea and elsewhere, so farre as my Coine would stretch. a1648Ld. Herbert Hen. VIII (1683) 372 We will take such Commons as they have at Oxford; Which, yet, if our Purse will not stretch to maintain, for our last refuge we will go a Begging.
†b. To go a certain length in action. Obs.
refl.c1374Chaucer Troylus i. 903 For vertue streccheþ not hym self to shame.
intr.1550Harington tr. Cicero's Bk. Friendship (1562) 26 Let vs firste see this poinct, howe farre oughte loue to stretche in freendshyp [L. quatenus amor in amicitia progredi debeat].
†c. To have a specified extent or range of action or application. Obs.
refl.c1449Pecock Repr. v. ii. 490 Tho textis strecchen hem to viciose persoones being out of religioun, as weel as to viciose persoones in religioun. 1559Homilies, Charity ii. L ij b, Howe charitie stretcheth [earlier edd. extendeth] it selfe, both to God and man, frend and foe.
intr.c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 420 Þis charite of freris schulde streeche to alle gode men. 1423Rolls of Parlt. IV. 256/1 That this ordynaunce stretche and bere strenketh also wel wyth in Chesshire. c1449Pecock Repr. iii. i. 278 Into ferther purpos than in to this purpos now here seid strecchith not eny of the textis now bifore alleggid. 1461Little Red Bk. Bristol (1900) II. 128 That thes acte strecche not to any mannes wyfe of the Crafte of Wevers nowe levyng. 1531tr. St. German's Dial. Doctor & Stud. xlii. 84 If a man..banyshed be restored by the prynce, whether shall that restitucion stretche to the goodes. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 13 He would there should no such power stretch to his successours, therefore he made no mention of them. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 125 L. Chamberlaine thinkes the priviledge dothe not stretche to goodes, and they are not to be delivered. 1625Sir H. Finch Law (1636) 25 A Statute that maketh it felony to receiue..one that committeth such and such an offence..stretcheth not to a woman that receiueth..her husband in such a case. 1659Milton Civ. Power 27 The other..makes himself supream lord or pope of the church as far as his civil jurisdiction stretches.
passive.c1380Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 343 For siþ vertue of a kyng mut be strecchid by al his rewme, myche more þe vertue of Crist is comuned wiþ al his children. a1586Sidney Apol. Poetrie (Arb.) 58 But I honor philosophicall instructions,..so as they be not abused, which is likewise stretched to Poetrie.
†15. To tend, be serviceable (to some object).
c1400Destr. Troy 9207 Hit semith me vnsertain, all serchyng of wayes Ys stokyn vp full stithly, shuld streche to my hele! c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4836 For Cristes sake, so yow gyeth ay, As þat may strecche to your peples ese. 1491Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 1 §1 His offence stretchith to the hurt and jopardie of the King. 1587A. Day Daphnis & Chloe (1890) 11 And for that her care stretched that the girle..might the sooner be taken and reputed for hers, she..called her Chloe. 1621True Relat. Exec. Prague A 3, The Iudgement..should not be executed, but in such a sort as might..stretch to the reputation and authority of the Emperours Maiesty.
V. To tighten by force, to strain.
16. a. trans. To pull taut; to bring (e.g. a rope, piece of cloth) to a rigid state of straightness or evenness by the application of tractive force at the extremities; to strain; to remove the curl from (hair).
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 211 Ȝif þe streng is i⁓strauȝt endelonges [L. chorda extensa] uppon þe holownesse of a tree. c1530Judic. Urines ii. vii. 30 b, Diafragma... And therfore it is strauth and taught and raeyched oute as it were a testure of clothe. a1535Fisher Serm. Wks. (1876) 394 Neuer anye Parchement skynne was more strayghtlye stratched by strength vpon the tentors. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 57 It behooueth your Honour..too play the Musition, streatch euery string till hee breake. 1590Lodge Rosalynde (1592) B, The meane is sweetest melodie, where strings high stretch[t], eyther soone cracke, or quickly grow out of time [? read tune]. 1705Tate Warriour's Welcome xxxiv, Then try your Skill: a well-prim'd Canvass stretch. 1735Somerville Chase ii. 268 Each eager Hound exerts His utmost Speed, and stretches ev'ry Nerve. 1763J. Brown Poetry & Music v. 67 Mercury was the Inventor of the Lyre; which had but four Strings, and these were stretched on a Turtle's Shell. 1815J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 698 For the convenience of keeping the paper stretched and smooth,..a drawing-board is used. 1883M. P. Bale Saw-Mills 185, Considerable trouble is often found in stretching or tightening large belts on to their pulleys. 1963W. Soyinka Lion & Jewel 9 Her hair is stretched Like a magazine photo. 1971C. Achebe Girls at War (1972) 58 Now Abigail was a lady; she could sew and bake..put on powder and perfumes and stretch her hair.
†b. To take out (wrinkles) by stretching. Obs.
a1541Barnes Wks. (1573) 254 Her wryncles bee streatched out.
c. intr. to stretch out: to be made even by straining.
1838in Newton's Lond. Jrnl. Conj. Ser. XVI. 68 The cloth is then folded back tightly over the tension rod e, and stretches out smooth in the opposite direction.
17. To pull (a person's) limbs lengthwise; esp. to torture by so doing, to rack. In early use, to place with extended limbs on a cross. Also with out.
a1225Ancr. R. 362 Nes Seinte Peter & Seinte Andrew, þereuore, istreiht o rode, and Seint Lorenz oðe gredil. a1375Joseph Arim. 560 Þenne he..on þe cros biholdes; He seiȝ a child strauȝt þer-on stremynge on blode. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 257 Beholde..those blessed armes..whiche were so stretched on the crosse, now all starke and styffe. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. xxi, After they [the bath-men] haue well pulled and stretched your armes..in such sort that he wyll make your bones too cracke. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. v. 316 The Duke dare No more stretch this finger of mine, then he Dare racke his owne. 1605― Lear v. iii. 315 He hates him, That would vpon the wracke of this tough world Stretch him out longer. 1611G. H. tr. Anti-Coton 41 If hee [this Jesuit] were but a little stretcht by the fingers, a man might learne strange misteries of him. 1665Dryden Ind. Emp. v. ii. (1668) 57 Fasten the Engines; stretch 'em at their length. 1669― Tempest iv. (1670) 51, I feel my self as on a Rack, stretch'd out, and nigh the ground, on which I might have ease, yet cannot reach it. 1888‘R. Boldrewood’ Robbery under Arms xxiii, If a man..was being stretched on the rack.
18.
†a. to stretch a halter, rope: to be hanged.
1592Greene Black Bk's. Messenger Wks. (Grosart) XI. 22, I at last resolutely vowed in my selfe to haue it though I stretcht a halter for it. 1657N. Billingsley Brachy-Martyrol. xxxii. 123 One man for saying he'd believe the Pope No sooner then the devil, stretch'd a rope. a1708T. Ward Eng. Ref. iv. (1710) 72 We our selves..Were in fair way to stretch a Halter.
†b. to stretch (a person, his neck): to hang.
1595Locrine ii. ii. 81 Here, good fellow; take it at my command, Vnlesse you meane to be stretcht. a1652Brome Queen & Concubine iv. iii. (1659) 82 For fear the Rusticks may presume again To stretch their penitent necks with halter strain. 1700Cibber Love makes a Man iv. iv, D. Du. But pray, Sir, were you as intimate at both Play-houses? Clo. No, stretch 'em! 1775N.Y. Jrnl. 9 Feb. in F. Moore Diary Amer. Rev. I. 19 ‘Pray, Mr. ―, what is a Tory?’ He replied, ‘A Tory is a thing whose head is in England, and its body in America, and its neck ought to be stretched.’ c1800Irish Song, The night before Larry was stretch'd The boys they all paid him a visit.
†c. intr. To be hanged.
1576Common Conditions 202 (Brooke) If hee could haue taken me I know that I should stretch. 1596H. Mountagu in Buccleuch MSS. (Hist. MSS. Comm.) I. 231 Two of his charge gave the slip; it was well for them; they might else have stretched with the rest of their companions. 1676D'Urfey Mme. Fickle v. ii, Ay, ay, you need not fear, you are a Lord, you'll come off well enough, 'tis we shall stretch for 't.
19. to stretch a point = to strain a point: see strain v. 11 f. Also, in the same sense, † to stretch string (cf. quot. 1579 in 16).
In the first quot. app. used with somewhat different sense.
1565Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Neruus, Intendere neruos in re aliqua, to strayne a sinew: to stretche a poy[n]cte: to indeuour to the vttermost of his power. a1566R. Edwards Damon & Pithias (facs.) G ij b, Wyll you not stretche one poynt: to bringe me in fauour agayne? 1575Gascoigne Glasse of Govt. ii. iii. (1910) 37 Might not a man entreat master Eccho to carry her a present if neede were? Eccho. Sir there is never a gentleman in this citie, shall make Eccho stretch a string sooner then your selfe, but [etc.]. 1576A. Hall Acc. Quarrel w. Mallerie etc., Misc. Antiq. Angl. (1816) I. 96 If for affection you stretch a string, you cannot be excused. 1687Atterbury Answ. Consid. Spirit Luther 22 Yet these same Schoolmen do not stretch the point so far, as to say the Pope has an absolute limited power over these Vows. 1814Scott Wav. liii, I am not likely, I think, to ask any thing very unreasonable, and if I did, they might have stretched a point. 1861H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xlii, It would be stretching a point to say that Cuthbert was a handsome man.
20.
†a. fig. To exert to the utmost, strain (one's powers). Obs.
1612in Capt. J. Smith's Wks. (Arb.) II. 422 Their men women, and children..kindly welcommed vs,..stretching their best abilities to expresse their loues. a1660Faithful Friends iii. iii, Till my veins And sinews crack, I'll stretch my utmost strength.
b. refl. and intr. To strain, press forward, use effort. Also with on.
c1350Will. Palerne 219 Þemperour..folwed as stiffuly as is stede miȝt strecche on to renne. 1526Tindale Phil. iii. 13, I forget that which is behynde me, and stretche my silfe [Gr. ἐπεκτεινόµενος] vnto that which is before me. 1551T. Wilson Logic C viij, If by labour and earnest trauaile, they will stretche to attein that whereunto thei are apt. 1738Wesley Hymn, ‘When shall thy lovely Face be seen?’ iv, And every Limb and every Joint Stretches for Immortality.
c. to stretch to the oar, stretch to the stroke (rarely trans. to stretch one's oars): to put forth one's strength in rowing; also fig. Also, to stretch out.
1697Dryden æneis v. 172 To bear with this, the Seamen stretch their Oars. Ibid. 247 Tug the lab'ring Oar; Stretch to your Stroaks, my still unconquer'd Crew. 1725Pope Odyss. xii. 265 Their oars they seize, Stretch to the stroke, and brush the working seas. 1820Scott Let. 30 Mar. in Lockhart (1837) IV. xi. 373 He must stretch to the oar for his own credit as well as that of his friends. 1835Dickens Sk. Boz, River, Why don't your partner stretch out? 1840R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xviii. 51 [We] were returning, stretching out well at our oars. 1846A. Young Naut. Dict. 328 Stretch out! an order to a boat's crew to pull strong.
d. Of a horse, etc. to stretch out into a gallop, to be stretched out at a gallop.
1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer xix, The roused animal commenced to stretch out into a gallop. 1896‘H. S. Merriman’ Sowers i, His little Cossack horse..was stretched out at a gallop.
VI. To lengthen or widen by force.
21. a. trans. To lengthen or widen (a material thing) by force; to pull out to greater length or width; to enlarge in girth or capacity by internal pressure. Also in figurative context.
Now the most prominent sense; in early use rare and perh. contextual (cf. 16), chiefly with advs. abroad, out.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xi. ii. (1495) 385 A stronge blaste of wynde..blowyth and stretchyth bledders by entrynge. 1530Palsgr. 738/2, I stretche out a length, jalonge. Stretche out this corde a lengeth. 1552Huloet, Stretche abrode, dilato. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, ii. iii. 33 And which guifts..the capacity Of your soft Chiuerell Conscience, would receiue, If you might please to stretch it. 1632Marmion Hollands Leaguer ii. v. F 2, Gentlemen, You'l breake your wits with stretching them. 1680Dryden Ovid's Epist. Pref. (1716) a 4, I suppose he [a translator] may stretch his Chain to such a Latitude, but by innovation of Thoughts, methinks he breaks it. 1687Atterbury Answ. Consid. Spirit Luther 32 He is a very Procrustes in his way: what⁓ever he meets of other men's, he unmercifully either stretches, or curtails, till he has made it exactly of a size with his own notions. 1691Hartcliffe Virtues 69 If the Stomach be stretched beyond its..true extent, it will [etc.]. 1762Mead's Med. Wks. (1775) 395 Her belly was so vastly stretched with water, that I pronounced the case incurable. 1843Holtzapffel Turning I. 421 Little risk of stretching the plates, if the work be delicately performed. 1843in Newton's Lond. Jrnl. Conj. Ser. XXV. 373 Machinery or apparatus..for stretching certain fibrous materials. 1860Ruskin Unto this Last i. (1862) 4 It might be shown, on that supposition, that it would be advantageous to roll the students up into pellets, flatten them into cakes, or stretch them into cables. 1889Harper's Mag. Mar. 623/2 My business..is to stretch new boots for millionaires.
b. To open wide (the eyes, mouth, nostrils).
1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. ii. 55 If little faults..Shall not be wink'd at, how shall we stretch our eye When capitall crimes..Appeare before vs? Ibid. iii. i. 15 Now set the Teeth, and stretch the Nosthrill wide. 16051st Pt. Jeronimo i. i. 56 Then let him..Stretch his mouth wider with big swolne phrases. 1823Scott Quentin D. viii, Looking as if he were stretching his eyes to see into futurity.
c. colloq. To eke out (food), esp. to serve a greater number of people than originally intended.
1923Chambers's Jrnl. Christmas 858/2 The problem of how to stretch a supper made for two to fit three. 1951H. MacInnes Neither Five nor Three xiii. 184 She began worrying how far she could stretch the beef stew now simmering on the stove. 1974N. Freeling Dressing of Diamond 80 She had made stuffing for the trout, to stretch them a bit. 1977C. McCarry Secret Lovers viii. 98 She wondered if I was free to have dinner at her house... They were having something that the cook could stretch for three.
d. Cinemat. To adapt (a silent film) for projection on sound equipment by duplicating alternate frames so that the speed of action is not distorted.
1953L. J. Wheeler Princ. Cinematogr. v. 145 Many occasions arrive when it is desirable to ‘stretch’ an original negative, that is, assuming an old, silent negative, is required to be printed into a sound film. 1965Listener 11 Feb. 231/3 If a silent film (sixteen frames/sec.) is projected on a sound projector (twenty-four frames/sec.), the action appears too fast. To rectify this, silent films are sometimes ‘stretched’ by making a special print in which every other frame is printed twice. 1969Observer 26 Jan. 7/4 The technique of stretching them [sc. silent films] to run at 24 or 25 frames a second..has been known and used for very many years. 1976Oxf. Compan. Film 664/2 Makers of compilation films often incorporate old footage without stretching it, with the result that modern audiences have come to regard all silent film as comic.
e. Engin. To increase the capability or power of (an aircraft, power plant, etc.).
1960New Scientist 30 June 1640/1 Engine power again was an essential factor in stretching the Viscount. 1967Economist 8 July p. xxvi/3 The newest Gardener engine now runs at 1,800 rpm to give 180 bhp—still with remarkable fuel economy. This is near the far limit to which the engine can be stretched without supercharging. 1979Nature 19 July 187/3 Why is it necessary to scale up to 1,300 MW? Doesn't the ability to replicate and perhaps stretch the 250 MW Dounreay prototype fast reactor give sufficient insurance against the risk of long-term uranium scarcity?
22. fig.
a. To enlarge or amplify beyond proper or natural limits; to extend unduly the scope or application of (a law, rule, etc.) or the meaning of (a word).
1553Primer or Bk. Priv. Prayer P v b, That they [sc. landlords] remembryng them selues to be thy tenauntes, may not racke and stretche oute y⊇ rentes of their houses and landes. 1580Spenser Let. to Harvey Poet. Wks. (1912) 611/2 Heauen, beeing vsed shorte as one sillable, when it is in Verse, stretched out with a Diastole, is like a lame Dogge that holdes vp one legge. 1581J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osorius 415 b, The speech of Peter in this whole Epistle, ought not in any wise be stretched to the paynes of Purgatory. 1631Star Chamber Cases (Camden) 8 Then he delivereth over the goods..they were stretched in value already. 1670South Serm. (1698) III. 154 To Love an Enemy is to stretch Humanity as far as it will go. 1746H. Walpole Let. to Mann 15 Apr., The judge..told her he wished he could stretch the law to hang her. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 382 When contending chiefs blockade the throne, Contracting regal power to stretch their own. 1848J. S. Mill Pol. Econ. iii. xxiii. §3 II. 183 In speculative times, money-dealers..are inclined to extend their business by stretching their credit. 1878O. W. Holmes Motley ii. 15 The rules of the Phi Beta Kappa Society..were stretched so as to include him. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 471 This reflex hypothesis has been stretched to explain cases following tonsillitis or disturbances of other organs. 1915Hartland in Man XV. 126 Thus, to refer to mana as ‘divine energy’ is stretching the word unwarrantably.
b. absol. To stretch one's ordinary rule, ‘launch out’.
1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xxx, He bespoke also a dozen of their best wine,..adding with a smile, that he would stretch a little for once.
†c. To extend the duration of. Obs. (? nonce-use.)
1568T. Howell Arb. Amitie 10 b, I cursse eche lingring howre of day, by bloudie woundes to stratch.
d. To exaggerate in narration; chiefly absol. (colloq.)
1674Govt. Tongue xi. 200 What an allay do we find to the credit of the most probable event, that it is reported by one who uses to stretch? 1678D'Urfey Trick for Trick i. i. 10 But I must confess t'ee, under the Rose here, I did stretch a little, as a good teller of a Story shou'd. 1711Swift Jrnl. to Stella 1 Dec., The fifteen images that I saw were not worth forty pounds, so I stretched a little when I said a thousand. 1883Harper's Mag. Apr. 658/2 They call anything that is ‘stretched’ a Yankee story. 1884‘Mark Twain’ Huck. Finn i, There was things which he stretched, but mainly he told the truth.
(b) In colloq. phr. to stretch it (or stretch things): to go too far, to go beyond the limits of credibility; to exaggerate.
1965M. Allingham Mind Readers xx. 212 Rightie ho. If you say so. Any friend of yours is a friend of mine but that's stretching it. 1974M. Hastings Dragon Island xi. 96 ‘I can't believe that by some chance Jones found himself with two people in whom he had special interest.’ ‘That would be stretching it.’ 1975R. Stout Family Affair ix. 83 Everyone in Washington is connected..with Watergate. That's stretching it, but not much. 1980R. Hill Killing Kindness v. 46 It's stretching things a bit... Still, it's worth checking.
e. colloq. To cause (someone) to exert himself to the utmost of his talents or abilities, esp. with regard to learning or employment.
1951C. Morgan Breeze of Morning i. v. 25, I had found that he always ‘stretched’ me in the way I liked, and gave me confidence by having such unswerving confidence in himself. 1960C. Day Lewis Buried Day i. 23 Under such conditions, an only child may become precocious, stretching himself unnaturally to meet the adult world on its own terms. 1968Guardian 21 Nov. 10/5 He is satisfied by being a bishop; he says he felt a need to be stretched by some equally big job. 1978D. Devine Sunk without Trace iv. 36, I hear good reports of your work... I fear, however, we're not stretching you enough. 1983Times 8 Jan. 3/8 Local education authorities..could ensure..that the curriculum suited and stretched all children.
23. a. intr. To be or admit of being forcibly lengthened or dilated without breaking.
1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 236 The vaynes of hys necke braken a sondre, and the synewes of his body stratcheden. c1537R. De Benese Measurynge Lande A iij, A corde or a lyne..wyl.. somtyme streche longer by long dryeth. 1558Warde tr. Alexis' Secr. 30 Ye shall cause the skinne to stretche, and come to his place, as it was before. 1597E. S. Discov. Knts. Poste B 4 b, Conscience,..I tell you their consciences are like chiuerell skins, that will stretch euery way. 1660Boyle New Exper. Spring of Air xxiv. 191 The inner Membrane that involv'd the several Liquors of the Egge, because it would stretch and yield, remain'd unbroken. 1871B. Taylor Faust (1875) II. i. iii. 31 Think, the thread won't stretch forever! Have a care! it might be broken. 1872W. Pole Iron 60 If we attach one end of a bar of iron to the ceiling, and hang a weight to the other end, the bar will stretch.
b. Jazz. To play without restraint, esp. in a solo. Const. out.
1961N.Y. Times Mag. 25 June 39/3 When a cat stretches out, he can make the moon on his own thrust or horn. 1962Down Beat 5 July 35/3, I heard this group in person, at the Village Gate, and they stretched out. 1968Crescendo June 12/2 Everybody really had a chance to stretch out and play what and how they wanted to.
VII. 24. a. Comb. stretch-bench Leather-manuf., a bench on which the stretching of hides is performed; stretch forming vbl. n. Mech., a process in which sheet metal under tension is shaped by the pressure of a punch to the required contour; hence stretch-form v. trans.; stretch-gut (see quot.); † stretch-halter, one who deserves to be hanged, a gallows-bird; † stretch-hemp = prec.; † stretch-leg, that which lays prostrate, Death; stretch mark, a linear mark on the skin (esp. of the stomach or thighs) when it has been distended by pregnancy or obesity; = stria 2 e; † stretch-mouthed a., wide-mouthed, fig.; † stretchneck [tr. AL. collistrigium], a pillory; stretch receptor Physiol., a sensory receptor that responds to the stretching of tissue; stretch reflex Physiol., a reflex contraction of a muscle resulting from the stretching of the same muscle; † stretch-rope, one who stretches a rope (applied to a bellringer); stretch spinning (see quot. 1957); stretch-wood, an apparatus for stretching gloves; a wooden hand upon which a glove is stretched to dry in dyeing.
1897C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather xli, (ed. 2) 543 The stretching is also performed by hand on the *stretch⁓bench.
1951G. Sachs Princ. & Methods Sheet-Metal Fabricating v. iii. 470 In most instances a part is *stretch-formed from a rectangular blank. 1973J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. II. iv. 85 (caption) Stretch forming a curved shape.
1942Iron Age 4 June 49 (heading) *Stretch-forming contoured sheet metal aircraft parts. 1951Archit. Rev. CIX. 166/1 It can be spun into a bell-like shape, or it can be shaped on a stretch-forming machine, which pulls it into shape over a former. 1973J. G. Tweeddale Materials Technol. II. iv. 85 Stretch forming uses a principle that involves applying a uniaxial tension to a thin plate,..and then pushing a controlled shape progressively into the surface of the tensioned sheet.
1673–8Littleton Lat.-Eng. Dict., Saturio, a *stretch-gut, an over-eater.
1583Golding Calvin on Deut. cxxiii. 759 Thou villaine, thou *stretchehalter. 1606Heywood 2nd Pt. If you know not Me (1609) D 2 b, I know this is the shop by that same stretch-halter. 1532*Stretch hempe [see hemp n. 3]. 1566Drant Horace, Sat. ii. vii. I ij, Thou stretche hempe [furcifer].
c1560Most Fruitf. Treat. Chr. Man i. xxxix. 150 Learne to beware by y⊇ example of other men, vpon whom *stretche legge came sodenly and slewe them.
1960F. W. Goodrich Maternity iii. 59 The development of ‘*stretch marks’ in the skin of the abdomen and thighs is not unusual. 1970D. Marlowe Echoes of Celandine viii. 143 ‘The marks you see..are not stretch-marks even though I have had three children.’.. She then turned around..revealing scars.. across her thighs. 1972G. Bourne Pregnancy vi. 110 Stretch marks may occur at puberty on the buttocks and also on the breasts, especially if a girl is overweight. 1980Family Med. Guide (R. Soc. Medicine) ix. 210/1 Cushing's syndrome is characterized by..thinning of the skin which may lead to large stretch marks, and a tendency to bruise easily.
1611Shakes. Wint. T. iv. iv. 196 Some *stretch⁓mouth'd Rascall.
1543tr. Ordin. Bakers etc. [c 1300] c. 3 Euery pyllory or *stretche-necke [L. collistrigium] must be made of conuenyent strength. 1890Conan Doyle White Company xxi, Some of you may find yourselves in the stretchneck, if you take not heed.
1936C. L. Evans Starling's Princ. Human Physiol. (ed. 7) xxxvii. 906 The lung evidently possesses *stretch receptors similar in their responses to those of muscle. 1961Listener 23 Nov. 858/1 If the animal [sc. an octopus] cannot use information from internal stretch receptors in its muscles, it will not be able to define the relative positions of the sense organs on the suckers that is uses to pick up an object. 1969J. H. Green Basic Clin. Physiol. ix. 52/2 As one breathes in, the lungs expand, and stretch receptors in the lungs send sensory information up the vagus nerve to the respiratory centre cutting short inspiration.
1916C. Asayama in Q. Jrnl. Exper. Physiol. IX. 278 Quick stretching of tibialis anticus by a sharp pull on its tendon..elicits a reflex contraction of the muscle... It may be termed a *stretch-reflex. 1978B. W. Payton in G. Ross Essentials Human Physiol. ix. 478 Stretch reflexes occur in all muscles but are particularly obvious in those involved in maintaining posture.
1634Heywood & Brome Lanc. Witches iii. i. E 3, 'Tis some merry conceit of the *stretch-ropes the Ringers.
1925U.S. Patent 1,528,219 This extract..prevents adhesion of the filaments in multiple spinning, and thereby greatly promotes ‘*stretch spinning’. 1957Textile Terms & Definitions (Textile Inst.) (ed. 3) 96 Stretch spinning, a process of spinning whereby the filaments are substantially stretched at some stage between extrusion and collection.
1883R. Haldane Workshop Rec. Ser. ii. 235/2 The glove [is] then allowed to dry on the *stretch-wood.
b. Used attrib. or as adj. to designate various (usu. synthetic) fibres or fabrics which are elastic or capable of stretching, and garments, etc. (which may stretch to provide close fitting) made from them. Occas. absol. as n.
1956Jrnl. Textile Inst. XL. 280 A stretch yarn in which the deformation is produced by suitable combinations of heat-setting and twisting. 1957Times 18 Nov. 11/4 Ties..by Jacques Fath with matching nylon stretch socks. 1959Times 12 Jan. 11/3 Courtauld's process to obtain resilient stretch-nylon yarn. 1961Listener 16 Nov. 825/2 My favourite example comes from a very modish American magazine... ‘As contemporary..as C. P. Snow and stretch-pants.’ 1962Guardian 23 Feb. 8/5 Until recently I had never found a fine stretch which did not ladder quickly. 1963Harper's Bazaar Jan. 50 Stretch slacks and cardigan in gold and silver. 1963Daily Mail 24 Aug. 5/1 (Advt.), 100% Nylon Stretch Tights. 1963Economist 7 Sept. 840/2 The most promising..growth area..is..in ‘stretch’ fabrics. 1964Woman 18 Jan. 13 Keep your stretch pants slender. 1968Vogue 15 Apr. 60 Snug⁓topped bubble dress..of sun red stretch. 1972Times 22 May 10/2 Too-tight stretch nylon socks cause many foot troubles. 1977‘J. Fraser’ Hearts Ease in Death xiv. 166 The chair..was fitted with one of those cheap stretch covers with a large floral pattern. 1978J. Gores Gone, no Forwarding xiii. 76 A wide-hipped woman in red stretch slacks. 1980Times 19 Feb. 8 The now obligatory stretch fabrics.
Senses 21 d–e in Dict. become 21 e–f. Add: [VI.] [21.] d. Broadcasting and Cinematogr. To prolong the running time of a programme or film, usu. by inserting material or slowing the pace, esp. in order to meet a schedule.
1939J. S. Carlile Production & Direction Radio Programs 371 Stretch, slow up the reading or musical numbers so that the show will finish exactly on time. 1940E. McGill Radio Directing vi. 104 Make sure that there is available as part of the show some feature or device that may be used to stretch the show if it is too short. 1983Listener 11 Aug. 34/1 The all-electronic device..is already supplied to broadcasters for ‘squeezing’ programmes into time-slots (for instance, to allow ad breaks in imported BBC-type programmes, or ‘stretching’ edited commercial programmes). 1989Daily Tel. 5 Jan. 12/3 ‘Colors’ has been stretched for the video market without consulting Dennis Hopper... So long as what was put back into the film was material that he had originally shot, he had no say in what happened to it.
[VII.] [24.] c. Used attrib. or as adj. to designate an airliner or car having an extended seating or storage area, usu. in Comb. as stretch jet, stretch limo, stretch limousine, stretch plane, etc. orig. and chiefly N. Amer.
1971Daily Progress (Charlottesville, Va.) 17 Mar. 3a/2 Sen. William B. Spong Jr., D-Va., has announced a freeze on the number of stretch jets allowed at Washington's National Airport. 1975Economist 15 Mar. 57/1 The big American airlift, which now involves civilian-piloted Hercules and DC-8 stretch jets..carrying rice, fuel, and ammunition, is largely unaffected. 1982N. Sedaka Laughter in Rain (1983) iv. xxviii. 217 At last Elton arrived, an hour and a half late, in a large, stretch Caddy limousine. 1984Fortune 19 Mar. 32/3 Emery is moving fast to protect the business, leasing five refurbished stretch DC-8 cargo planes. 1985R. Barth Condo Kill xxxviii. 174 A black stretch Fleetwood Cadillac pulled up to the curb. 1986Daily Tel. 21 Oct. 8/6 Limousines, whether of the ‘stretch’ variety or simply the ordinary sedan, are a common sight in the United States. 1987E. Leonard Bandits v. 61 He saw the white Cadillac stretch limo. 1987New Yorker 16 Feb. 42/3 He possesses..a stretch Rolls-Royce (at last report, he was giving it up, as too showy). 1989D. Francis Hot Money xvii. 239 Being driven round Los Angeles..in a stretch-limousine Malcolm seemed to have hired by the yard. |