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.

Related Words

Relevance

Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for distends
  1. expands
  2. swells
  3. increases
Verb
  • This new effort expands on individual airline trials to try mitigating contrails across an entire flight corridor.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026
  • Under the new partnership, the companies will work together to develop, finance and produce original features, formalizing an ongoing creative relationship as Watch This Ready expands its slate across independent and studio-backed projects.
    — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 18 Aug. 2026
Definition of expands
Verb
  • Out over the eastern Pacific ocean, the mixture is leading to a rise in the ocean swells, and that could affect the region by the weekend.
    — Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Video shared by the navy shows a large turquoise box with the two men inside bobbing in dark ocean swells as rescue crews move in.
    — Diego Mendoza, CNN Money, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of swells
Verb
  • Leaders should ask whether a new location grows the customer base, deepens existing relationships, or increases purchase frequency or spending enough to offset channel substitution.
    — Ayşe Çetinel, Harvard Business Review, 18 Aug. 2026
  • But the price of doing so is constantly rising, as technology increases the range and magnitude of horrible possibilities.
    — Foreign Affairs, Foreign Affairs, 18 Aug. 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.

Browse Nearby Words

distending
distends
distension
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Distends.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/distends. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of tilde

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

How to Pronounce the Trickiest Menu Items

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Aug. 21

16 Glee-ridden Words from Schitt's Creek
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
alt-684346df967d5
Add A Letter Quiz Pick the letter that goes in the same spot in fou...
See All