stretch / strech/ • v. [intr.] 1. (of something soft or elastic) be made or be capable of being made longer or wider without tearing or breaking: my sweater stretched in the wash rubber will stretch easily when pulled. ∎  [tr.] cause to do this: stretch the elastic. ∎  [tr.] pull (something) tightly from one point to another or across a space: small squares of canvas were stretched over the bamboo frame. ∎  last or cause to last longer than expected: [intr.] her nap had stretched to two hours | [tr.] stretch your weekend into a mini summer vacation. ∎  [tr.] make great demands on the capacity or resources of: the cost of the court case has stretched their finances to the limit. ∎  [tr.] cause (someone) to make maximum use of their talents or abilities: it's too easy—it doesn't stretch me. ∎  [tr.] adapt or extend the scope of (something) in a way that exceeds a reasonable or acceptable limit: to describe her as sweet would be stretching it a bit.2. straighten or extend one's body or a part of one's body to its full length, typically so as to tighten one's muscles or in order to reach something: the cat yawned and stretched| [tr.] stretching my cramped legs we lay stretched out on the sand.3. [intr.] extend or spread over an area or period of time: the beach stretches for over four miles the long hours of night stretched ahead of her.• n. 1. an act of stretching one's limbs or body: I got up and had a stretch. ∎  the fact or condition of a muscle being stretched: she could feel the stretch and pull of the muscles in her legs. ∎  Baseball a phase of a pitcher’s delivery, during which the arms are raised above and behind the head. ∎  Baseball a shortened form of a pitcher’s windup, typically used to prevent base runners from stealing or gaining a long lead. ∎  [usu. as adj.] the capacity of a material or garment to stretch or be stretched; elasticity: stretch jeans. ∎  a difficult or demanding task: it was a stretch for me sometimes to come up with the rent.2. a continuous area or expanse of land or water: a treacherous stretch of road. ∎  a continuous period of time: long stretches of time. ∎ inf. a period of time spent in prison: a four-year stretch for tax fraud. ∎  a straight part of a racetrack, typically the homestretch: he made a promising start, but faded down the stretch. ∎  Sailing the distance covered on one tack.3. [usu. as adj.] inf. a motor vehicle or aircraft modified so as to have extended seating or storage capacity: a black stretch limo.PHRASES: at a stretch in one continuous period: I often had to work for over twenty hours at a stretch.by no (or not by any) stretch of the imagination used to emphasize that something is definitely not the case: by no stretch of the imagination could Carl ever be called good-looking.stretch one's legs go for a short walk, typically after sitting in one place for some time.stretch one's wingssee wing.DERIVATIVES: stretch·a·bil·i·ty / -əˈbilitē/ n.stretch·a·ble adj.

Stretch A monster computer chartered by the US Government and built in the late 1950s by IBM as their IBM 7030; it was designed to “stretch the technique of computer building to its limits.” It had a pipelined instruction unit with address lookahead, and a 64-bit word length with double precision arithmetic if required. Addressing was down to the bit over a two-million word memory. It was capable of variable word length working and, in fact, almost anything that could be expected of hardware. A limited number of 7030s were built for atomic energy and similar research establishments.

stretch everyone stretches his legs according to the length of his coverlet proverbial saying, late 13th century; meaning that it is natural to live as comfortably as your resources permit.
stretch your arm no further than your sleeve will reach proverbial saying, mid 16th century; meaning that you should not spend more than you can afford (compare cut your coat according to your cloth).

stretch lay at full length; extend OE.; tighten, lengthen, widen by force XIV. OE. streċċan = MLG., MDu. strecken (Du. strekken), OHG. strecchan (G. strecken) :- WGmc. *strakkjan, of uncert. orig.
Hence stretch sb. extension XVI; extent of time or space XVII.