distends

verb

present tense third-person singular of distend
as in expands
to make or become larger especially because of pressure from inside The illness can cause the stomach to distend.

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for distends
  1. expands
  2. swells
  3. increases
Verb
  • As artificial intelligence expands across K-12 schools, Massachusetts announced a new $500,000 public-private investment in AI applied learning opportunities for hundreds of students, the Healey-Driscoll administration announced Tuesday.
    — Grace Zokovitch, Boston Herald, 22 July 2026
  • The Iranian military fired six missiles on Jordan today, according to the Jordan Armed Forces, as the regional conflict expands.
    — Arpita Dasika, CNN Money, 22 July 2026
Definition of expands
Verb
  • It was forecast to gradually strengthen and the hurricane center said that ocean swells generated by Fausto were spreading along the Baja California coast and likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip tides.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 July 2026
  • Swells generated by Bertha are expected to continue spreading westward along the northern Gulf Coast during the next few days, forecasters said, with these swells likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.
    — Gabe Hauari, USA Today, 22 July 2026
Definition of swells
Verb
  • Though present, they are not enabled by default and require overriding hidden FeatureFlags, which increases user risk.
    — Ewan Spence, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026
  • Thus the image is both cropped at the top and bottom and blown up in a way that increases the grain and softness.
    — Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 21 July 2026
Definition of increases
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Cite this Entry

“Distends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distends. Accessed 28 Jul. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on distends

Nglish: Translation of distends for Spanish Speakers

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