<B>stress syndrome,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Medicine.) a group of symptoms caused by overactivity of the pituitary and adrenal glands in response to psychological stress. <BR> <I>Ex. Hypertension, atherosclerosis, and adrenal deterioration are typical of the ... stress syndrome (Scientific American).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stretch">
<B>stretch, </B>verb, noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to draw out; extend (oneself, body, limbs, wings, or the like) to full length. <BR> <I>Ex. The bird stretched its wings. He stretched himself out on the grass to rest.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to extend so as to reach from one place to another or across a space. <BR> <I>Ex. Father stretched a clothesline from a tree to a pole.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to reach (out); hold (out). <BR> <I>Ex. I stretched out my hand for the money.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>to draw out to greater size; lengthen or widen. <BR> <I>Ex. Please stretch this shoe a little until it fits.</I> <DD><B> 5. </B>to draw tight; strain. <BR> <I>Ex. to stretch a muscle. He stretched the violin string until it broke.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Figurative.) to extend beyond proper or natural limits. <BR> <I>Ex. to stretch one's credit. They stretched the law to suit their own purpose.</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) to exaggerate. <BR> <I>Ex. to stretch the truth.</I> <DD><B> 8. </B>(Dialect.) to straighten the limbs of (a dead person). <DD><B> 9. </B>(Informal.) to hang (a person). <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to extend one's body, or limbs at full length, as in lying down, yawning, or reaching. <BR> <I>Ex. She stretched out on the couch.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to continue over a distance; fill space; spread. <BR> <I>Ex. The forest stretches for miles. The hours stretched by like years (Alfred Noyes).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to extend one's hand; reach for something. <BR> <I>Ex. to stretch out to get a book.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to make great effort. <DD><B> 5. </B>to become longer or wider without breaking. <BR> <I>Ex. Rubber stretches.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>(Informal, Figurative.) to go beyond the strict truth. <DD><B> 7. </B>(Informal.) to be hanged. <DD><I>noun </I> <B>1a. </B>an unbroken length or extent. <BR> <I>Ex. A stretch of sand hills lay between the road and the ocean.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>an uninterrupted period. <BR> <I>Ex. to work for a stretch of five hours.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Slang.) <DD><B> a. </B>a term of imprisonment. <DD><B> b. </B>(British.) a year's term in prison. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Figurative.) the act or fact of stretching or straining something beyond its proper limits. <BR> <I>Ex. a stretch of authority or of the law, no great stretch of the imagination.</I> <DD><B> 4a. </B>the act of stretching or the condition of being stretched. <BR> <I>Ex. With a sudden stretch he took the cap off the tall boy's head.</I> <DD><B> b. </B>the act of stretching the legs; walk for exercise. <DD><B> 5. </B>capacity for being stretched; extent to which something can be stretched. <BR> <I>Ex. The stretch of that bird's wings is two feet. She shouted the insult at the stretch of her voice.</I> <DD><B> 6. </B>one of the two straight sides of a race course. The part between the first and second turns is called the backstretch; the part between the last turn and the finish line is called the home stretch. <BR> <I>Ex. Down the back stretch, Needles was still lost in the pack (Time).</I> <DD><B> 7. </B>(Mining, Geology.) the course or direction of a seam or stratum. <DD><B> 8. </B><B>=stretch limo.</B> <BR> <I>Ex. This big Mercedes stretch ... with the plush seats and the glass partition, with the uniformed chauffeur in front and the bar and radio in back (Colette Dowling).</I> <DD><B> 9. </B>the ability of an aircraft to be modified and improved in design, performance, or capacity after its original construction. <BR> <I>Ex. [It] is capable of considerable further stretch in power and efficiency, already claimed to equal or exceed that of other engines (Wall Street Journal).</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of a material that stretches easily to fit all sizes. <BR> <I>Ex. stretch socks, stretch pants.</I> <BR><I>expr. <B>stretch a point.</B> </I>See under <B>point.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>stretch one's legs.</B> </I>See under <B>leg.</B> <BR><I>expr. <B>the stretch,</B> </I><B>=home stretch.</B> adj. <B>stretchable.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="stretchability">
<B>stretchability, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the ability to stretch or be stretched. </DL>
<A NAME="stretchedout">
<B>stretched-out, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> drawn out beyond the original size; extended; prolonged. </DL>
<A NAME="stretcher">
<B>stretcher, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that stretches. <BR> <I>Ex. A glove stretcher makes gloves larger.</I> <DD><B> 2a. </B>canvas stretched on a frame for carrying the sick, wounded, or dead. (SYN) litter. <DD><B> b. </B>a high bed or cot on wheels, that can be raised or lowered by means of collapsible legs, used for transporting patients to and from ambulances and in hospitals. <DD><B> 3a. </B>a bar, beam, or rod used as a tie or brace, as between the legs of a chair. <DD><B> b. </B>a brick or stone laid with its length in the direction of the face of the wall. <DD><B> 4. </B>a wooden frame on which an artist's canvas is spread and drawn tight, usually by means of tacks along the sides and small wedges in the angles. <DD><B> 5. </B>(Informal.) an exaggerated tale; yarn. <BR> <I>Ex. ... mostly a true book, with some stretchers (Mark Twain).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stretcherbearer">
<B>stretcher-bearer, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of the persons who carry a stretcher, as in moving a sick, injured, or dead person. </DL>
<A NAME="stretcherbond">
<B>stretcher bond,</B> <B>=running bond.</B></DL>
<A NAME="stretchlimo">
<B>stretch limo,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (U.S. Informal.) a long limousine. <BR> <I>Ex. Two stretch limos, gleaming, silver-gray, come gliding slowly across the field (New Yorker).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="stretchmarks">
<B>stretch marks,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> glistening white lines on the abdomen and thighs caused by stretching of the skin during pregnancy; striae gravidarum. </DL>
<A NAME="stretchout">
<B>stretchout, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> (Informal.) <B>1. </B>a postponement, especially of the date for filling defense orders. <BR> <I>Ex. Such cuts might take the form of a stretchout of defense goals so that their cost might be distributed over a longer period (New York Times).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a system in which factory or other workers are required to do additional work without overtime pay. <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with a stretchout. </DL>
<A NAME="stretchreceptor">
<B>stretch receptor,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a sense organ that is sensitive to any stretching of the tissue in which it is found. The muscle spindle is a stretch receptor. </DL>
<A NAME="stretchy">
<B>stretchy, </B>adjective, <B>stretchier,</B> <B>stretchiest.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Informal.) <DD><B> 1. </B>elastic; stretchable. <DD><B> 2. </B>liable to stretch too much. </DL>
<A NAME="stretchyarn">
<B>stretch yarn,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> any synthetic yarn treated to give it elasticity. </DL>
<A NAME="stretta">
<B>stretta, </B>noun, pl. <B>-te,</B> <B>-tas.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) <DD><B> 1. </B>a passage, especially a final passage, performed in quicker or accelerated time for climactic effect, a device often used in oratorio and opera. <DD><B> 2. </B>stretto in a fugue or canon. </DL>
<A NAME="stretto">
<B>stretto, </B>noun, pl. <B>-ti,</B> <B>tos.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Music.) <DD><B> 1a. </B>(in a fugue or canon) an overlapping of subject and answer so as to produce a rapidly cumulative effect. <DD><B> b. </B>the third section of the fugue, after exposition and development, in which this device is often used. <DD><B> c. </B>a canon in which this device is used. <DD><B> 2. </B>a final passage; stretta. </DL>
<A NAME="streusel">
<B>streusel, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a crumb topping for cake, usually made of flour, sugar, and nuts. </DL>
<A NAME="strew">
<B>strew, </B>transitive verb, <B>strewed,</B> <B>strewed</B> or <B>strewn,</B> <B>strewing.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>to scatter or sprinkle. <BR> <I>Ex. She strewed seeds in her garden. The boy strewed his clothes all over the floor.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to cover with something scattered or sprinkled. <BR> <I>Ex. In the fall the ground was strewn with leaves. Wild tornadoes strewing yonder sea with wrecks (William Cowper).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>to be scattered or sprinkled over. <BR> <I>Ex. Photographs strewed the low tables (Edith Wharton).</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Figurative.) to spread about; disseminate. <BR> <I>Ex. All heaven bursts her starry floors, And strews her lights below (Tennyson). For so I have strewed it in the common ear (Shakespeare).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="strewment">
<B>strewment, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> (Archaic,) something strewed, as flowers. </DL>
<A NAME="strewn">
<B>strewn, </B>verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> strewed; a past participle of <B>strew.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="stria">
<B>stria, </B>noun, pl. <B>striae.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a slight furrow or ridge; small groove or channel, as produced on a rock by moving ice, or on the surface of a crystal or mineral by its structure. <DD><B> 2. </B>a linear marking; narrow stripe or streak, as of color or texture, especially one of a number in parallel arrangement. <DD><B> 3. </B>(Architecture.) a fillet between the flutes of columns. </DL>
<B>striate, </B>verb, <B>-ated,</B> <B>-ating,</B> adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.t. </I> to mark or score with striae; furrow; stripe. <DD><I>adj. </I> <B>=striated.</B> </DL>
<B>striated muscle,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a type of muscle with fibers of cross bands usually contracted by voluntary action, such as the muscles that move the arms, legs, and neck; voluntary muscle. </DL>
<A NAME="striation">
<B>striation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>striated condition or appearance. <DD><B> 2. </B>one of a number of parallel striae. </DL>
<B>strick, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a bundle of broken hemp, flax, or jute, for hackling. <DD><B> 2. </B>a bunch of silk fiber for the second combing. </DL>
