distend

On one table lay the body of someone frozen statue-like in death, the stomach distended and a hand jutting stiffly outward.

— Washington Post, "Grim task as forensic experts ID Guatemala volcano victims," 8 June 2018
On one table lay the body of someone frozen statue-like in death, the stomach distended and a hand jutting stiffly outward.

— sonia perez d., chicagotribune.com, "Grim task as forensic experts ID Guatemala volcano victims; death toll hits 110," 8 June 2018
Is the prone deer the Trump Family, playing dead to trick the greedy reptile into a fatal mistake, ready to burst forth from its enemy’s distended, overtaxed guts in triumph, perhaps while wearing a tiny red MAGA hat?

— mark lisanti, Vanities, "The Trump Family Power Rankings: Week Ending April 20, 2018," 21 Apr. 2018
One person who saw the corpse of the officer, Major General Ali al-Qahtani, said his neck was twisted as if it had been broken, and that his body was badly bruised and distended.

— BostonGlobe.com, "Saudis said to use coercion and abuse on nation’s wealthy," 12 Mar. 2018
Larger cells in a woman’s heart could interrupt its electrical pathways, the authors suspect, and extra pressure against the lungs (due to a woman’s large size) could cause the heart to distend.

— amanda macmillan, Time, "5 Ways Being Tall Affects Your Health," 8 Sep. 2017
The boy’s stomach was distended and his diaper was wet, and heavy, as if it hadn’t been changed in a long time.

— tom mcghee, The Denver Post, "Aurora couple charged with child abuse after two babies die under similar circumstances," 8 Mar. 2017
That means building CO2 turbines with metals that won’t crack, distend, or deform, and making them big enough to take the abuse.

— nick stockton, WIRED, "Want Efficient Energy? Try Carbon Dioxide-Powered Turbines," 26 May 2017
After all those births his mother’s belly was permanently distended as if number 11 was on the way.

— by charles hammer, kansascity.com, "Radical tax-cutters for the rich are not really true Republicans," 28 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'distend.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

The history of the word distend stretches back to the Latin verb tendere - a root whose kin have really expanded our language. To find evidence of this expansion, look to words that include "tend" or "tent"; many have "tendere," which means "to stretch, extend, or spread," in their family tree. Perhaps the simplest example is "tent," which names a shelter made from a piece of material stretched over a frame. You'll also find the influence of "tendere" in "extend," "tendon," "contend," "portend," and "tendency."

Origin and Etymology of distend

Middle English, from Latin distendere, from dis- + tendere to stretch — more at thin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of distend

expand, amplify, swell, distend, inflate, dilate mean to increase in size or volume. expand may apply regardless of the manner of increase (such as growth, unfolding, addition of parts).

- a business that expands every year

amplify implies the extension or enlargement of something inadequate.

- amplify the statement with details

swell implies gradual expansion beyond a thing's original or normal limits.

- the bureaucracy swelled to unmanageable proportions

distend implies outward extension caused by pressure from within.

- a distended abdomen

inflate implies expanding by introduction of air or something insubstantial and suggests a vulnerability to sudden collapse.

- an inflated ego

dilate applies especially to expansion of circumference.

- dilated pupils

DISTEND Defined for English Language Learners

distend

verb

Definition of distend for English Language Learners

medical + formal : to become larger and rounder because of pressure from inside

DISTEND Defined for Kids

distend

verb dis·tend \ di-ˈstend \

Definition of distend for Students

distended; distending

: expand 2, swell

Illness can cause the stomach to distend.

Word Root of distend

The Latin word tendere, meaning to “stretch” or “to spread,” and its form tentus give us the roots tend, tent, and tens. Words from the Latin tendere have something to do with stretching or spreading. A tent is a temporary shelter made from stretched out fabric. To distend is to stretch outward and swell in all directions. To extend is to stretch out. A tendon is a cord that connects a muscle to another muscle or to a bone and that stretches allowing a joint to bend. Something tense is stretched tight.