Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
adjective
- increased, as in size, volume, etc.; expanded; dilated: the distended nostrils of the terrified horse.
- swollen, by or as by internal pressure, out of normal size or shape; protuberant: distended wineskins; the distended arteries of his neck.
verb (used with or without object)
- to expand by stretching, as something hollow or elastic: Habitual overeating had distended his stomach.
- to spread in all directions; expand; swell: The sea distended about them.
verb
- to expand or be expanded by or as if by pressure from within; swell; inflate
- (tr) to stretch out or extend
- (tr) to magnify in importance; exaggerate
c.1400, from Latin distendere “to swell or stretch out, extend,” from dis- “apart” (see dis-) + tendere “to stretch” (see tenet). Related: Distended; distending.
v.
- To swell out or expand or cause to swell out or expand from or as if from internal pressure.