Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To swell out or expand, especially from internal pressure.
- intransitive verb To cause to expand, especially from internal pressure; dilate.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To stretch or spread in all directions; dilate; expand; swell out; enlarge: as, to
distend a bladder; to distend the lungs. - To stretch in any direction; extend.
- To widen; spread apart.
- To become distended; swell.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb To become expanded or inflated; to swell.
- transitive verb rare To extend in some one direction; to lengthen out; to stretch.
- transitive verb To stretch out or extend in all directions; to dilate; to enlarge, as by elasticity of parts; to inflate so as to produce tension; to cause to swell
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb intransitive To
extend orexpand , as frominternal pressure ; toswell - verb transitive, reflexive, archaic To
extend ; tostretch out; tospread out. - verb transitive To cause to swell.
- verb biology To cause
gravidity .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb become wider
- verb cause to expand as it by internal pressure
- verb swell from or as if from internal pressure
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The history of the word "distend" stretches back to the Latin verb "tendere"
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The history of the word "distend" stretches back to the Latin verb "tendere"
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When my moose-meat spluttered rowdily in the frying-pan, I noticed old Ebbits's nostrils twitch and distend as he caught the food-scent.
The White Man's Way 2010
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When my moose-meat spluttered rowdily in the frying-pan, I noticed old Ebbits's nostrils twitch and distend as he caught the food-scent.
THE WHITE MAN'S WAY 2010
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The Aspen Ideas Festival is underway at the Aspen Institute and that means the average Joe and Jane Soave Bolla can gorge on the newer new thing until their stomachs distend into the 21st Century.
Michael Conniff: Con Games: If I Only Had A Brain At Aspen Ideas Fest 2010
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Her nostrils distend with the memory of cherished scents.
The Lady Matador’s Hotel Cristina García 2010
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It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent.
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In a new study awaiting publication, Dr. Leung reports that pumping in water instead of air to distend the colon is more comfortable for patients, resulting in a success rate of 97%.
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During the procedure, air is pumped into the colon to distend it and make it easier for the gastroenterologist to see.
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In an age when the Air Force budget looks to increase only marginally, if at all, while simultaneously planning to buy several other major aircraft (new aerial tankers, new transports, new heavy bombers, and new helicopters), this plan to distend the fighter-bomber budget is a fool's errand.
Winslow T. Wheeler: What Now, Icarus? Is Western Combat Aviation Falling Out of the Sky? 2009
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