a straightaway section of a racetrack
"The driver pushed hard through the final stretch to beat his rival by two seconds."
exercise designed to extend the limbs and muscles to their full extent
"Before starting my run, I spent ten minutes doing stretches to ensure every muscle was fully extended."
extension to or beyond the ordinary limit
"running at full stretch"
"by no stretch of the imagination"
"beyond any stretch of his understanding"
the capacity for being stretched
"The fabric of that dress has a remarkable stretch, allowing it to fit comfortably even when I'm sitting down."
An act of stretching.
"After sitting at his desk all morning, he stood up to stretch before heading out for a walk."
In plain English: A stretch is a continuous period of time or distance without any breaks or interruptions.
"The stretch of road between the two towns is very long and straight."
extend or stretch out to a greater or the full length
"Unfold the newspaper"
"stretch out that piece of cloth"
"extend the TV antenna"
pull in opposite directions
"During the Inquisition, the torturers would stretch their victims on a rack"
extend the scope or meaning of; often unduly
"Stretch the limits"
"stretch my patience"
"stretch the imagination"
corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones
"adulterate liquor"
extend one's body or limbs
"Let's stretch for a minute--we've been sitting here for over 3 hours"
To lengthen by pulling.
"She stretched her arms upward to touch the high shelf in the kitchen."
In plain English: To stretch means to pull something out longer or wider than usual.
"I need to stretch my legs after sitting at my desk all day."
The word "stretch" comes from the Old English verb streċċan, which originally meant to hold out, extend, or spread something. Its roots trace back through Middle English and Proto-West Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European base meaning "stiff" or "rigid."