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distend

 [dih-stend]   Example Sentences Origin

dis·tend

   [dih-stend]
verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1.
to expand by stretching, as something hollow or elastic: Habitual overeating had distended his stomach.
2.
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. 2012.
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Distend is a GRE word you need to know.
So is dissever. Does it mean:
loose in morals and conduct
separate into parts
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Example Sentences
  • Barium sulfate is used to distend the hollow digestive organs so they can be seen in the images produced by the scan.
  • To make it easier to see and manipulate tissues, a salt solution is injected into the joint to distend it.
  • The mainliner also requires a tourniquet of some sort to distend veins.
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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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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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.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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