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, .: ( slang ) a year's imprisonment.— ns. Stretch′er , anything used for stretching, as gloves, hats, .: 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 succe ive 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 dre ing leather.— adj. Stretch′y , apt to stretch too much: liable to stretch one's self from wearine . [A.S. streccan — strec , stræc , strong; cf. Ger. strack , straight.]