DISTENTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does distention mean? 

• DISTENTION (noun)
  The noun DISTENTION has 2 senses:

1. the state of being stretched beyond normal dimensions

2. the act of expanding by pressure from within

  Familiarity information: DISTENTION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISTENTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The state of being stretched beyond normal dimensions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

dilatation; distension; distention

Hypernyms ("distention" is a kind of...):

physical condition; physiological condition; physiological state (the condition or state of the body or bodily functions)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "distention"):

tympanites (distension of the abdomen that is caused by the accumulation of gas in the intestines or the peritoneal cavity)

ectasia; ectasis (dilatation or distension of a hollow organ)

varicocele (dilatation of the veins associated with the spermatic cord in the testes)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of expanding by pressure from within

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

distension; distention

Hypernyms ("distention" is a kind of...):

enlargement; expansion (the act of increasing (something) in size or volume or quantity or scope)

Derivation:

distend (swell from or as if from internal pressure)

distend (cause to expand as it by internal pressure)

distend (become wider)

 Context examples 

The systemic variant, in addition to the skin papules, is characterized by gastrointestinal manifestations including abdominal pain and distention, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, intestinal infarction, and intestinal perforation.

(Malignant Atrophic Papulosis, NCI Thesaurus)

Signs and symptoms include abdominal distention and tenderness, intestinal bleeding and ileus.

(Necrotizing Enterocolitis, NCI Thesaurus)

Clinically, it usually presents as an abdominal mass associated with abdominal distention.

(Liver Mesenchymal Hamartoma, NCI Thesaurus)

Patients usually present with abdominal distention, pain, ascites, and a palpable abdominal mass.

(Desmoplastic small round cell tumor, NCI Thesaurus)

Distention of the abdomen associated with a feeling of fullness.

(Bloating, NCI Thesaurus)

It results in a functional stenosis of the distal colon and a massive distention of the proximal colon.

(Aganglionic megacolon, NCI Thesaurus)