Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To cause (something) to be longer, wider, or cover more area.
  • intransitive verb To enlarge the scope or effect of.
  • intransitive verb To cause (something) to last longer.
  • intransitive verb To prolong the time allowed for payment of.
  • intransitive verb To put off; postpone.
  • intransitive verb To present; offer.
  • intransitive verb To make available; provide.
  • intransitive verb To open or straighten (something) out; unbend.
  • intransitive verb To increase in quantity or bulk by adding a cheaper substance.
  • intransitive verb To exert (oneself) vigorously or to full capacity.
  • intransitive verb To cause to move at full gallop. Used of a horse.
  • intransitive verb To appraise or assess; value.
  • intransitive verb To seize or make a levy on for the purpose of settling a debt.
  • intransitive verb To be or become long, large, or comprehensive.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To stretch out in any direction, or in all directions; carry forward or continue in length or enlarge in area; expand or dilate: as, to extend roads, limits, or bounds; to extend the territories of a kingdom; to extend a metal plate by hammering.
  • To place horizontally, at full length.
  • To hold out or reach forth.
  • To make more comprehensive; enlarge the scope of; give a wider range to: as, to extend the sphere of usefulness; to extend commerce; to extend a treatise or a definition.
  • To continue; prolong: as, to extend the time of payment; to extend a leave of absence.
  • To hold out as a grant or concession; communicate; bestow; impart: as, to extend mercy to an offender.
  • To hold out in effort; put forth the strength or energy of: used reflexively.
  • To take by seizure; become seized of; pass by seizin or right of possession.
  • In law, to make a seizure of; fasten a process or grant upon, as lands under a writ of extent in satisfaction of a debt, or a writ of execution to levy and value.
  • To magnify; extol.
  • To plant or set out.
  • To survey; measure the extent of, as land.
  • To be stretched or drawn out; be continued in length, or in all directions; be expanded; stretch out: as, the line extends from corner to corner; the skin extends over nearly the whole body; his influence is gradually extending.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To stretch out; to prolong in space; to carry forward or continue in length
  • transitive verb To enlarge, as a surface or volume; to expand; to spread; to amplify.
  • transitive verb To enlarge; to widen; to carry out further; ; to continue, as time; to lengthen; to prolong.
  • transitive verb To hold out or reach forth, as the arm or hand.
  • transitive verb To bestow; to offer; to impart; to apply.
  • transitive verb To increase in quantity by weakening or adulterating additions.
  • transitive verb (Eng. Law) To value, as lands taken by a writ of extent in satisfaction of a debt; to assign by writ of extent.
  • transitive verb (Typog.) a letter, or style of type, having a broader face than is usual for a letter or type of the same height.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb intransitive To increase in extent.
  • verb intransitive To possess a certain extent.
  • verb transitive To cause to increase in extent.
  • verb transitive To cause to last for a longer period of time.
  • verb transitive To straighten (a limb).

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb reach outward in space
  • verb increase in quantity or bulk by adding a cheaper substance
  • verb use to the utmost; exert vigorously or to full capacity
  • verb open or straighten out; unbend
  • verb span an interval of distance, space or time
  • verb extend in scope or range or area

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English extenden, from Old French extendre, from Latin extendere : ex-, ex- + tendere, to stretch; see ten- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Latin extendō ("to stretch out").

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Examples

  • Among the practices being examined by the SEC is one known as "extend and pretend" or "amend and pretend," in which a bank gives a borrower more time to repay a loan.

    SEC Probe Examines Bank-Loan Practices Robin Sidel 2011

  • These chrome and refractor cards extend from the original sets in Heritage (numbers 1-100) and Topps Chrome (numbers 101-200), and these new chrome cards will be numbers 201-300.

    SciFi, Fantasy & Horror Collectibles - Part 1167 2009

  • The islands are part of a chain of volcanic mountains that extend from the mainland into the Gulf of Guinea known as the Cameroon Volcanic Line.

    São Tomé and Príncipe 2009

  • The tooth-like prickles extend from the tip of the snout to the end of their tail, and offer protection against minute parasites and hungry predators (when mature there are none).

    Dr. Reese Halter: Protecting Great White Sharks Dr. Reese Halter 2010

  • The flexible display and slide-out keyboard extend from a bright-red base; the overall effect is decidedly dated in a fun, “emotionally appealing” way, the designers say.

    15 Laptop Concepts of the Future | Impact Lab 2010

  • (If you revised it, though, you would update the copyright to extend from the first time to the date of revision, such as "copyright 1999-2009.")

    A master of the universe plots his own downfall 2009

  • Property rights extend from the center of the earth to the sky.

    Matthew Yglesias » Centrally Planned Suburbia 2010

  • Cut the marabou at the length you want the feather to extend from the head to the tail, cutting it towards the base of the feather and not the tip.

    All About Jigs 2009

  • For underhanded pitching, the line should extend from the rod tip down to the lure, which should be even with the reel.

    Flip It Like Brauer 2009

  • The tooth-like prickles extend from the tip of the snout to the end of their tail, and offer protection against minute parasites and hungry predators (when mature there are none).

    Dr. Reese Halter: Protecting Great White Sharks Dr. Reese Halter 2010

Comments

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  • Contronymic in the sense: make greater vs. diminish (as dilution).

    January 27, 2007