English Dictionary

STRETCH OUT

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IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does stretch out mean? 

STRETCH OUT (verb)
  The verb STRETCH OUT has 5 senses:

1. extend or stretch out to a greater or the full lengthplay

2. lie down comfortablyplay

3. thrust or extend outplay

4. extend one's body or limbsplay

5. stretch (the neck) so as to see betterplay

  Familiarity information: STRETCH OUT used as a verb is common.


 Dictionary entry details 


STRETCH OUT (verb)


Sense 1

Meaning:

Extend or stretch out to a greater or the full length

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

extend; stretch; stretch out; unfold

Context example:

extend the TV antenna

Hypernyms (to "stretch out" is one way to...):

change form; change shape; deform (assume a different shape or form)

Verb group:

extend (open or straighten out; unbend)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something


Sense 2

Meaning:

Lie down comfortably

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

stretch; stretch out

Context example:

To enjoy the picnic, we stretched out on the grass

Hypernyms (to "stretch out" is one way to...):

lie; lie down (assume a reclining position)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s


Sense 3

Meaning:

Thrust or extend out

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

exsert; extend; hold out; put out; stretch forth; stretch out

Context example:

the bee exserted its sting

Hypernyms (to "stretch out" is one way to...):

gesticulate; gesture; motion (show, express or direct through movement)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "stretch out"):

hyperextend (extend a joint beyond its normal range)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something


Sense 4

Meaning:

Extend one's body or limbs

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

stretch; stretch out

Context example:

Let's stretch for a minute--we've been sitting here for over 3 hours

Hypernyms (to "stretch out" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s


Sense 5

Meaning:

Stretch (the neck) so as to see better

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

crane; stretch out

Context example:

The women craned their necks to see the President drive by

Hypernyms (to "stretch out" is one way to...):

extend; stretch (extend one's limbs or muscles, or the entire body)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something


 Context examples 


Every morning the woman crept to the little stable, and cried: “Hansel, stretch out your finger that I may feel if you will soon be fat.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Come back! she did not stretch out her yearning arms in vain.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I was on the point of asking him if he knew me, when he tried to stretch out his arm, and said to me, distinctly, with a pleasant smile: Barkis is willin'!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It depends on yourself to stretch out your hand, and take it up: but whether you will do so, is the problem I study.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Now stretch out in line, my merry ones, with arrow on string, and I shall show you such sport as only the King can give.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My ramifications stretch out into many sections of society, but never, I am happy to say, into amateur sport, which is the best and soundest thing in England.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I feared, oh so much, that the appalling nature of our danger was overcoming him when I saw his hand stretch out; but it was life to me to feel its touch—so strong, so self-reliant, so resolute.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

I always imagine it is as it is in the picture, where the shining ones stretch out their hands to welcome poor Christian as he comes up from the river.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

But the sparrow began to flutter about, and stretch out her neck and cried, “Carter! it shall cost thee thy life yet!”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“See how they stretch out from each other! The Norman hath a mangonel or a trabuch upon the forecastle. See, they bend to the levers! They are about to loose it.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
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