2stretch noun
plural stretches 1 [count] : a continuous area or length of land or water
▪ a 60-mile stretch of beach ▪ an open stretch of highway/road 2 [count] a : a continuous period of time
▪ We sat silently for a long/short/brief stretch (of time). ▪ She can sit and read for hours at a stretch. [=at one time without stopping]
b informal : a period of time spent in prison — usually singular ▪ He just got out of prison after a six-year stretch. 3 : an act of stretching your body or part of your body [count] ▪ These are good stretches for your leg muscles. ▪ I always spend a few minutes doing stretches before I exercise. [noncount] ▪ I can feel the stretch in the back of my legs. 4 the stretch : the final straight part of a racecourse before the finish line
▪ the horses are in the (final) stretch — often used figuratively ▪ They won some crucial games down the stretch. [=in the last part of the season] ▪ She's in the final stretch. The baby's due next month. — see also homestretch 5 [noncount] : the ability to be stretched without breaking or being torn
▪ material with a lot of stretch 6 [singular] chiefly US a : something that requires a special effort to be done : something that is beyond a person's usual abilities
▪ Portraying a famous actress was not much of a stretch [=challenge] for the popular movie star.
b : a statement, description, etc., that is not strictly true or accurate
▪ Some people think it's a stretch to call fishing a sport.
▪ a 60-mile stretch of beach ▪ an open stretch of highway/road
▪ We sat silently for a long/short/brief stretch (of time). ▪ She can sit and read for hours at a stretch. [=at one time without stopping]
b informal : a period of time spent in prison — usually singular ▪ He just got out of prison after a six-year stretch.
▪ the horses are in the (final) stretch — often used figuratively ▪ They won some crucial games down the stretch. [=in the last part of the season] ▪ She's in the final stretch. The baby's due next month. — see also homestretch
▪ material with a lot of stretch
▪ Portraying a famous actress was not much of a stretch [=challenge] for the popular movie star.
b : a statement, description, etc., that is not strictly true or accurate
▪ Some people think it's a stretch to call fishing a sport.
at full stretch
Brit, informal : with as much effort as possible
▪ The medical team worked at full stretch.
▪ The medical team worked at full stretch.
by any/no stretch of the imagination
— used to emphasize that something is not true, does not happen, etc. ▪ They're not wealthy by any stretch of the imagination. [=they're not wealthy at all] ▪ By no stretch of the imagination does the factory operate efficiently. [=the factory does not operate at all efficiently]
the seventh-inning stretch
baseball : the time between the two halves of the seventh inning when the people watching a game traditionally stand up and stretch their legs
