STRETCHES Synonyms: 207 Similar and Opposite Words

stretches 1 of 2

noun

plural of stretch

as in expanses

a wide space or area a narrow stretch of beach below the cliffs

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Relevance

as in whiles

an indefinite but usually short period of time there was a cardinal at our bird feeder for a short stretch last spring

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as in ranges

the distance or extent between possible extremes the stories were written over a considerable stretch of time

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as in distances

the space or amount of space between two points, lines, surfaces, or objects the longest stretch of the drive without any place to get gas

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stretches

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of stretch

as in exaggerates

to add to the interest of by including made-up details it was stretching the truth to say she'd been in the movies: she was once an extra whose scene was cut in the final version

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in pulls

to injure by overuse, misuse, or pressure I stretched a back muscle, and the pain is killing me

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as in lengthens

to make longer the time it would take to fix the car got stretched from three hours to two days when the part we needed had to be ordered

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as in tries

to subject (a personal quality or faculty) to often excessive stress your whining is stretching my patience to the limit

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as in tightens

to draw tight if the canvas isn't properly stretched over the frame, there will be sagging over time

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of stretches

Noun

Sometimes the family stayed in their car, but the girls were also left for long stretches with various friends of their mom’s. — Anja Aronowsky Cronberg, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2026 Larger projects, like resurfacing long stretches of major streets, take more planning and coordination with the city. — Sabrina Franza, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026 Reynolds understood how to sell the new pen, too, with advertisements promising an avant-garde writing utensil, capable of enduring long stretches of writing with no need to replenish the ink. — Encyclopedia Britannica, 21 Oct. 2026 Halftime or commercial-break mini games protect energy during the slow stretches when guests might otherwise drift toward their phones. — Lauren Schuster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Oct. 2026 Greg Vaughn, Willy Adames and Matt Garza are the most prominent players with lengthy stretches on both teams, and Bauers made his big league debut with the Rays in 2018. — ABC News, 19 Oct. 2026 Jones showed stretches of that growth last season, his first full campaign with the Panthers. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 17 Oct. 2026 Caporaso went 4-of-14 against Reeves and 7-foot, 255-pound Paul Mbiya for stretches. — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 17 Oct. 2026 Starting with their quarterback, Arch Manning once again looked less than adequate for large stretches of the game. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Verb

Raman, by contrast, saw a 49% reduction in unsheltered homelessness in her district, which stretches from Silver Lake to Reseda. — Los Angeles Times, 1 Nov. 2026 What happened to them, and why Jonah remains obsessed with this one unsolved case, are details that get slowly dripped out, like in every other sad-dad detective show that stretches a movie-length premise over 10 hourlong episodes. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 29 Oct. 2026 The paper trail of royal complicity in slavery thus stretches across three centuries. — Brooke N. Newman, The Conversation, 29 Oct. 2026 There’s even a dearth of candidate campaign yard signs littering the 15-county district that stretches the length of the coast. — Tia Mitchell, AJC.com, 28 Oct. 2026 In front of the driver is a 55-inch display that encompasses touch-sensitive panels either side of the main instrument display and stretches across the width of the dash. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, ArsTechnica, 28 Oct. 2026 The district stretches the length of the state's southern border. — Esme Murphy, CBS News, 28 Oct. 2026 More specifically, the Base-01 stretches out over a patch of earthen floor measuring 183 sq ft (17 sq m) – about the same amount of floor as this handsome Ikea tiny home. — New Atlas, 25 Oct. 2026 The first island chain, which stretches from Japan through Taiwan to the Philippines, is a central geographic feature in US and Chinese military planning. — Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 25 Oct. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for stretches

Noun

Foliage rustles in the autumn wind here, and where there aren’t corn husks swaying, there are flat, lonely expanses of dirt where crops have been harvested.

— Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026
A lot of buildings and fields and parks and cafés and expanses of water and elevators and on-ramps and curbsides.

— Madeline ffitch, Harpers Magazine, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of expanses

Noun

Getting there could require not only a different course but changes to the start and finish areas, the expo and possibly the mix of race distances.

— Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 5 Nov. 2026
As a result, many regions have relatively sparse monitoring networks that struggle to capture localized storms, where rainfall can vary dramatically over short distances.

— Muskan Bhatia, Interesting Engineering, 5 Nov. 2026

Definition of distances

Verb

Armour points to two recent plays, one involving Chelsea Gray and another involving Kiah Stokes, as proof that Clark exaggerates contact and creates false narratives about opposing players.

— Dan Zaksheske OutKick, FOXNews.com, 23 July 2026
The best place to start is a sporting culture that exaggerates accomplishments and rewards capitalistic success before the sporting variety.

— Ian Nicholas Quillen, Forbes.com, 7 July 2026

Definition of exaggerates

Verb

During meiosis, a structure called the spindle forms, which lines the chromosomes up and eventually pulls them apart.

— Megan Molteni, STAT, 2 Nov. 2026
The question of who pulls more cross-over voters and independents could determine whether Democrats win back any significant power in Tallahassee.

— Claire Heddles, Miami Herald, 2 Nov. 2026

Definition of pulls

Verb

The formula pairs glycerin and flexible polymers to coat and define every lash without weighing them down, while the dual-length brush prevents clumps and lengthens from root to tip.

— Madison San Miguel, Allure, 15 Oct. 2026
Aerohart also lengthens the Aviator's Ember to give users more leverage in plunging the piston.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of lengthens

Verb

The company tries to make that connection real by inviting people in.

— Tianwei Zhang, Footwear News, 30 Oct. 2026
Arriving a week before Christmas, Mark halfheartedly tries to pull together a celebration for Bobby, but fate intervenes when the Seversons meet the Kringles, a family that celebrates the holiday year-round.

— Todd Gilchrist, Variety, 29 Oct. 2026