This week's theme
Verbs

This week's words
gallivant
vituperate
scrutate
distend
manducate

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(di-STEND)

MEANING:

verb tr., intr.: To swell, inflate, or extend.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin dis- (away, apart) + tendere (to stretch). Ultimately from the Indo-European root ten- (to stretch), which is also the source of tense, tenet, tendon, tent, tenor, tender, pretend, extend, tenure, tetanus, hypotenuse, tenable, tenuous, extenuate, countenance, pertinacious, and detente. Earliest documented use: 1400.

USAGE:

"My lungs felt inefficient, distended, like balloons full of water."
Edwin Cameron; Was I Ready to Be a Judge with HIV?; Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg, South Africa); Feb 7, 2014.

See more usage examples of distend in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: