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Definition of "distend" [dis•tend]

  • To swell out or expand from or as if from internal pressure. (verb-intransitive)
  • To cause to expand by or as if by internal pressure; dilate. (verb-transitive)
  • To extend. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "distend" in a sentence
  • "The history of the word "distend" stretches back to the Latin verb "tendere""
  • "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 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."