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distend

/dəˈstɛnd/
IPA guide

Other forms: distended; distending; distends

A soda and pizza binge might make your stomach distend, meaning your stomach will swell as a result of pressure from the inside.

If you’ve ever eaten too much food it won’t surprise you to learn that the verb distend traces back to the Latin words dis-, meaning “apart,” and tendere, meaning “to stretch.” Your stomach will certainly feel stretched out if you do something — like overeat — that causes it to distend. The word distend often applies to stomachs — a pregnancy would also cause a stomach to distend — but it can also refer to anything that is stretched out as a result of internal pressure.

Definitions of distend
  1. verb
    cause to expand as if by internal pressure
    “The gas distended the animal's body”
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    type of:
    bloat
    make bloated or swollen
  2. verb
    swell from or as if from internal pressure
    “The distended bellies of the starving cows”
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    type of:
    intumesce, swell, swell up, tumefy, tumesce
    expand abnormally
  3. verb
    become wider
    synonyms: dilate
    see moresee less
    type of:
    widen
    become broader or wider or more extensive
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘distend'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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