• dih-STEND • verb
1 : extend 2 : to enlarge from internal pressure : swell 3 : to become expanded
[Ro] a se dilata, a se umfla, a dilata, a umfla
Example sentence:
With mouths agape and eyes distended, the audience listened to the fireman’s incredible story.
Cu gurile căscate şi cu ochii larg deschişi, audienţa asulta povestirea incredibilă a pompierului.
The history of the word distend stretches back to the Latin verb tendere — a root whose kin have really expanded English. To find evidence of this expansion, look to words that include tend or tent; many have tendere, which means to stretch, extend, or spread, in their family tree. Perhaps the simplest example is tent, which names a shelter made from a piece of material stretched over a frame. You’ll also find the influence of tendere in extend, tendon, contend, portend, and tendency.
