To be on the stretch
(gcide) | Stretch \Stretch\, n.
1. Act of stretching, or state of being stretched; reach;
effort; struggle; strain; as, a stretch of the limbs; a
stretch of the imagination.
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By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain.
--Dryden.
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Those put a lawful authority upon the stretch, to
the abuse of yower, under the color of prerogative.
--L'Estrange.
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2. A continuous line or surface; a continuous space of time;
as, grassy stretches of land.
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A great stretch of cultivated country. --W. Black.
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But all of them left me a week at a stretch. --E.
Eggleston.
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3. The extent to which anything may be stretched.
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Quotations, in their utmost stretch, can signify no
more than that Luther lay under severe agonies of
mind. --Atterbury.
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This is the utmost stretch that nature can.
--Granville.
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4. (Naut.) The reach or extent of a vessel's progress on one
tack; a tack or board.
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5. Course; direction; as, the stretch of seams of coal.
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To be on the stretch, to be obliged to use one's utmost
powers.
Home stretch. See under Home, a.
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