STRETCHINGS
Noun
stretchings
plural of stretching
Source: Wiktionary
STRETCHING
Stretch"ing, a. & n.
Definition: from Stretch, v. Stretching course (Masonry), a course or
series of stretchers. See Stretcher, 2. Britton.
STRETCH
Stretch, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Stretched; p. pr. & vb. n. Stretching.]
Etym: [OE. strecchen, AS. streccan; akin to D. strekken, G. strecken,
OHG. strecchen, Sw. sträcka, Dan. strække; cf. AS. stræck, strec,
strong, violent, G. strack straight; of uncertain origin, perhaps
akin to E. strong. Cf. Straight.]
1. To reach out; to extend; to put forth.
And stretch forth his neck long and small. Chaucer.
I in conquest stretched mine arm. Shak.
2. To draw out to the full length; to cause to extend in a straight
line; as, to stretch a cord or rope.
3. To cause to extend in breadth; to spread; to expand; as, to
stretch cloth; to stretch the wings.
4. To make tense; to tighten; to distend forcibly.
The ox hath therefore stretched his yoke in vain. Shak.
5. To draw or pull out to greater length; to strain; as, to stretch a
tendon or muscle.
Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve. Doddridge.
6. To exaggerate; to extend too far; as, to stretch the truth; to
stretch one's credit.
They take up, one day, the most violent and stretched prerogative.
Burke.
Stretch, v. i.
1. To be extended; to be drawn out in length or in breadth, or both;
to spread; to reach; as, the iron road stretches across the
continent; the lake stretches over fifty square miles.
As far as stretcheth any ground. Gower.
2. To extend or spread one's self, or one's limbs; as, the lazy man
yawns and stretches.
3. To be extended, or to bear extension, without breaking, as elastic
or ductile substances.
The inner membrane . . . because it would stretch and yield, remained
umbroken. Boyle.
4. To strain the truth; to exaggerate; as, a man apt to stretch in
his report of facts. [Obs. or Colloq.]
5. (Naut.)
Definition: To sail by the wind under press of canvas; as, the ship
stretched to the eastward. Ham. Nav. Encyc. Stretch out, an order to
rowers to extend themselves forward in dipping the oar.
Stretch, n.
1. Act of stretching, or state of being stretched; reach; effort;
struggle; strain; as, a stretch of the limbs; a stretch of the
imagination.
By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain. Dryden.
Those put a lawful authority upon the stretch, to the abuse of yower,
under the color of prerogative. L'Estrange.
2. A continuous line or surface; a continuous space of time; as,
grassy stretches of land.
A great stretch of cultivated country. W. Black.
But all of them left me a week at a stretch. E. Eggleston.
3. The extent to which anything may be stretched.
Quotations, in their utmost stretch, can signify no more than that
Luther lay under severe agonies of mind. Atterbury.
This is the utmost stretch that nature can. Granville.
4. (Naut.)
Definition: The reach or extent of a vessel's progress on one tack; a tack
or board.
5. Course; direction; as, the stretch of seams of coal. To be on the
stretch, to be obliged to use one's utmost powers.
– Home stretch. See under Home, a.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition