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
  • As the sun expands, gravitational tides act like a subtle brake, slowly draining Earth's orbital energy and pulling the planet inward.
    — Sharmila Kuthunur, Space.com, 8 July 2026
  • The package expands the Air Force’s layered defenses against small unmanned aircraft.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 7 July 2026
Definition of expands
Verb
  • Conditions will deteriorate further by midweek as northwest swells increase, the Weather Service said.
    — Kassia Bonesteel, CBS News, 13 July 2026
  • Coastal flooding also will remain a threat through the early part of the week, as king tides continue to pound the Bay Area coast, and the Pacific Ocean swells stay high because of storm activity in the Southern Hemisphere.
    — Rick Hurd, Mercury News, 13 July 2026
Definition of swells
Verb
  • Airport officials say the new design increases the distance between the terminal and the nearest runway, currently as little as 257 feet, soon to be about 880 feet, bringing the airport into compliance with FAA standards.
    — Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, 8 July 2026
  • Firejet production also increases Beyond collaborative combat aircraft, the expansion will increase production of Kratos’ Firejet family of aerial target systems.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 7 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.

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 14 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on distends

Nglish: Translation of distends for Spanish Speakers

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 yaw

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

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?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 10
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
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
banana-mirrored
Contradictory Words Quiz Pick out which word means one thing…and the opp...
See All