dis-tend

verb (used with object), verb (used 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.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English (< Anglo-French destendre) < Latin distendere, equivalent to dis- dis-¹ + tendere to stretch

Related forms

dis·tend·er, noun

o·ver·dis·tend, verb

un·dis·tend, verb (used with object)

Synonyms
1. See expand. 1, 2. enlarge, bloat.

Antonyms
1, 2. shrink, contract.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To dis-tend

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Dis-tend is always a great word to know.

So is quincunx. Does it mean:

an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

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Collins

World English Dictionary

distend (dɪˈstɛnd)

—vb
1.	to expand or be expanded by or as if by pressure from within; swell; inflate
2.	(tr) to stretch out or extend
3.	(tr) to magnify in importance; exaggerate

[C14: from Latin distendere, from dis-¹ + tendere to stretch]

dis'tender

—n

dis'tensible

—*adj*

distensi'bility

—n

dis'tension

—n

dis'tention

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

distend

c.1400, from L. distendere "to swell or stretch out, extend," from dis- "apart" + tendere "to stretch" (see tenet). Related: Distended.

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

distend di·stend (dĭ-stěnd')
v. dis·tend·ed, dis·tend·ing, dis·tends
To swell out or expand or cause to swell out or expand from or as if from internal pressure.

Matching Quote

"Being your slave, what should I do but tend
Upon the hours and times of your desire?
I have no precious time at all to spend
Nor services to do, till you require:
Nor dare I chide the world-without-end hour
Whilst I, my sovereign, watch the clock for you,
Nor think the bitterness of absence sour
When you have bid your servant once adieu:
Nor dare I question with my jealous thought
Where you may be, or your affairs suppose,
But like a sad slave, stay and think of nought
Save, where you are, how happy you make those;—
So true a fool is love, that in your will
Though you do anything, he thinks no ill."

-Shakespeare

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