distend

[ dih-stend ]

verb (used with or without object)

1. to expand by stretching, as something hollow or elastic:

   Habitual overeating had distended his stomach.

   Synonyms: bloat, enlarge

   Antonyms: contract, shrink

2. to spread in all directions; expand; swell:

   The sea distended about them.

   Synonyms: bloat, enlarge

   Antonyms: contract, shrink

distend

/ dɪˈstɛnd /

verb

1. to expand or be expanded by or as if by pressure from within; swell; inflate
2. tr to stretch out or extend
3. tr to magnify in importance; exaggerate

Derived Forms

• disˌtensiˈbility, noun
• disˈtender, noun
• disˈtensible, adjective
• disˈtension, noun

Other Words From

• dis·tender noun
• over·dis·tend verb
• undis·tend verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of distend¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English distenden (from Anglo-French destendre ), from Latin distendere, equivalent to dis- dis- ¹ + tendere “to stretch”

Word History and Origins

Origin of distend¹

C14: from Latin distendere, from dis- ¹+ tendere to stretch

Synonym Study

See expand.

Example Sentences

By the late eighties she called Aspen a golden goose and worried that it was dying, distended by the richness shoved down its throat.

From Outside Online

They drink too much, their bellies distend, and most possess a predilection for siliconed blondes and themed belt buckles.

From The Daily Beast

She was seized by the nose and chin, as if she had been a horse, and made to distend her jaws even painfully.

From Project Gutenberg

Furl—To roll up and make sails fast so that the wind cannot distend them.

From Project Gutenberg

At times he would distend himself with pneumatic vestments in the rococo vein.

From Project Gutenberg

It may seem surprising that the discoverer of the venous return felt the need of a deus ex machina to distend the right auricle.

From Project Gutenberg

This loose skin, that is now so folded up under my beak that you can scarcely see it, I can distend into an enormous pouch.

From Project Gutenberg