v. 1
To make inaccurate by exaggeration.
To say crossing the street was brave is stretching the meaning of "brave" considerably.
v. 2
To execute by hanging.
n. 1
An act of stretching.
I was right in the middle of a stretch when the phone rang.
n. 2
The ability to lengthen when pulled.
That rubber band has quite a bit of stretch.

Related words

Word family: stretchability stretchable stretcher stretchy
Phrases: stretch out stretch forth by any stretch home stretch stretch limousine stretch mark at a stretch by no stretch

Forms

Plural: stretches → reaches, reachings, stretchabilities, expanses…
Past participle: stretched
e.g. stretched → extended, lengthened, expanded, drawn…

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

2 letters: go¹
4 letters: draw¹, fill¹, load¹, hang¹
5 letters: range¹, reach¹, patch¹, stint¹, truss¹, ketch¹, scrag
6 letters: effort², spread¹, extent², extend², expand², strain¹, unfold², dilute², overdo³, abduct², dilate², debase², rarefy³
7 letters: tension², tighten², enlarge², expanse², distend²
8 letters: struggle², reaching², exertion³, lengthen², elongate³
9 letters: extension³, overstate³
10 letters: exaggerate⁴, overcharge³, adulterate⁴
11 letters: hyperbolize, hyperbolise
12 letters: stretchiness
13 letters: overemphasize⁵, overemphasise
14 letters: stretchability

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (effort² = 2 syllables).