STRETCHER


Meaning of STRETCHER in English

/strech"euhr/ , n.

1. Med.

a. a kind of litter, often of canvas stretched on a frame, for carrying the sick, wounded, or dead.

b. a similar litter on wheels, adapted for use in ambulances and hospitals.

2. a person or thing that stretches.

3. any of various instruments for extending, widening, distending, etc.

4. a bar, beam, or fabricated material, serving as a tie or brace.

5. Masonry. a brick or stone laid in a wall so that its longer edge is exposed or parallel to the surface. Cf. header (def. 5a).

6. a simple wooden framework on which the canvas for an oil painting is stretched.

7. Furniture.

a. a framework connecting and bracing the legs of a piece of furniture.

b. one member of this framework.

8. a crosspiece that is set athwart and near the bottom in a small boat, and against which the feet of a rower are braced.

9. one of the thin, sliding rods connecting the canopy and handle of an umbrella.

v.t.

10. to stretch (canvas for a painting) on a stretcher.

[ 1375-1425; late ME stretcher. See STRETCH, -ER 1 ]

Random House Webster's Unabridged English dictionary.      Полный английский словарь Вебстер - Random House .