Meaning

• An act of stretching.

  "I was right in the middle of a stretch when the phone rang."

• The ability to lengthen when pulled.

  "That rubber band has quite a bit of stretch."

• A course of thought which diverts from straightforward logic, or requires extraordinary belief or exaggeration.

  "It's a bit of a stretch to call Boris Karloff a comedian."

• A segment of a journey or route.

  "It was an easy trip except for the last stretch, which took forever."

• A segment or length of material.

  "a stretch of cloth"

• A quick pitching delivery used when runners are on base where the pitcher slides his leg instead of lifting it.

• A long reach in the direction of the ball with a foot remaining on the base by a first baseman in order to catch the ball sooner.

• Term of address for a tall person.

• The homestretch, the final straight section of the track leading to the finish.

• A length of time.

• A stretch limousine.

Meaning

• To lengthen by pulling.

  "I stretched the rubber band until it almost broke."

• To lengthen when pulled.

  "The rubber band stretched almost to the breaking point."

• To pull tight.

  "First, stretch the skin over the frame of the drum."

• To get more use than expected from a limited resource.

  "I managed to stretch my coffee supply a few more days."

• To make inaccurate by exaggeration.

  "To say crossing the street was brave is stretching the meaning of "brave" considerably."

• To extend physically, especially from limit point to limit point.

  "The beach stretches from Cresswell to Amble."

• To extend one’s limbs or another part of the body in order to improve the elasticity of one's muscles

  "Cats stretch with equal ease and agility beyond the point that breaks a man on the rack."

• To extend to a limit point

  "His mustache stretched all the way to his sideburns."

• To increase.

• To stretch the truth; to exaggerate.

  "a man apt to stretch in his report of facts"

• To sail by the wind under press of canvas.

  "The ship stretched to the eastward."

• To execute by hanging.

• To make great demands on the capacity or resources of something.