by any stretch

Idioms & Phrases

by any stretch

Beyond ordinary limits, especially of the imagination. For example, She could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered a great actress. The phrase sometimes is put in the negative, by no stretch, as in By no stretch can that work be called an opera. [Late 1700s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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