English Dictionary

STRETCHER (stretcher)

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

Irregular inflected form: stretcher  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

 Dictionary entry overview: What does stretcher mean? 

STRETCHER (noun)
  The noun STRETCHER has 4 senses:

1. a wooden framework on which canvas is stretched and fixed for oil paintingplay

2. a mechanical device used to make something larger (as shoes or gloves) by stretching itplay

3. a litter for transporting people who are ill or wounded or dead; usually consists of a sheet of canvas stretched between two polesplay

4. a stone that forms the top of wall or buildingplay

  Familiarity information: STRETCHER used as a noun is uncommon.


 Dictionary entry details 


STRETCHER (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

A wooden framework on which canvas is stretched and fixed for oil painting

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

frame; framework (a structure supporting or containing something)


Sense 2

Meaning:

A mechanical device used to make something larger (as shoes or gloves) by stretching it

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

mechanical device (mechanism consisting of a device that works on mechanical principles)

Derivation:

stretch (make long or longer by pulling and stretching)


Sense 3

Meaning:

A litter for transporting people who are ill or wounded or dead; usually consists of a sheet of canvas stretched between two poles

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

litter (conveyance consisting of a chair or bed carried on two poles by bearers)

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

gurney (a metal stretcher with wheels)


Sense 4

Meaning:

A stone that forms the top of wall or building

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

capstone; copestone; coping stone; stretcher

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

stone (building material consisting of a piece of rock hewn in a definite shape for a special purpose)

Holonyms ("stretcher" is a part of...):

wall (an architectural partition with a height and length greater than its thickness; used to divide or enclose an area or to support another structure)


 Context examples 


There was one thwart set as low as possible, a kind of stretcher in the bows, and a double paddle for propulsion.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

In the foreground four solemn men in dress suits are walking along the sidewalk with a stretcher on which lies a drunken woman in a white evening dress.

(The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"Like cures like." (English proverb)

"When there are too many carpenters, the door cannot be erected." (Bhutanese proverb)

"While they read the Bible to the wolf, it says: hurry up, my flock left." (Armenian proverb)

"Many small creeks make a big river." (Danish proverb)



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