stretch out

1. 1.

   extend or stretch out to a greater or the full length

   “Unfold the newspaper”

   “stretch out that piece of cloth”

   “extend the TV antenna”

   Synonymsunfoldstretchextend

   Broaderchange shape
2. 2.

   lie down comfortably

   “To enjoy the picnic, we stretched out on the grass”

   Synonymsstretch

   Broaderlie down
3. 3.

   thrust or extend out

   “He held out his hand”

   “point a finger”

   “extend a hand”

   “the bee exserted its sting”

   Synonymsexsertput outextendhold outstretch forth

   Broadergesticulate

   Narrowerhyperextend
4. 4.

   extend one's body or limbs

   “Let's stretch for a minute--we've been sitting here for over 3 hours”

   Synonymsstretch

   Broadermove
5. 5.

   stretch (the neck) so as to see better

   “The women craned their necks to see the President drive by”

   Synonymscrane

   Broaderstretch

Questions about stretch out

What does stretch out mean?

stretch out means "extend or stretch out to a greater or the full length". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for stretch out?

Close synonyms include unfold, stretch, extend, stretch, exsert. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is stretch out a common word?

stretch out is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.