toggle menu
menu
vocabulary
1000+ books

distend

used in a sentence
(click/touch triangles for details)
Definition to extend — especially the swelling outward of a part of the body; e.g., the stomach
  • One method of declawing is to severe the tendon that allows the claws to distend.
distend = extend
  • She remembered the distended bellies of the starving cows.
  • distended = swollen
  • The surgeon uses irrigation fluid to distend the joint to create room to operate.
  • distend = extend
  • During laparoscopy carbon dioxide gas is injected into the abdominal cavity to distend it so that organs can be viewed more easily.
  • distend = extend
  • "Han," rasped Theresa then, eyes wide.
    Helen froze.
    The moment distended.
    [when Theresa awakened at the hospital]
    Gish Jen  --  Typical American
  • distended = extended (seemed longer)
  • Other boys were appearing now, tiny tots some of them, brown, with the distended bellies of small savages.
    William Golding  --  Lord of the Flies
  • distended = swollen
  • ...the eyelids, now more closely welded to the eyeball, now distended;
    Albert Camus  --  The Plague
  • distended = extended or swollen
  • ...that's why she's distended like a summer gourd.
    Amy Tan  --  The Bonesetter's Daughter
  • distended = extended or swollen
  • "Give him air. He's fainted."
    The ring of onlookers distended and closed again elastically.
    James Joyce  --  Dubliners
  • distended = extended outward
  • He will soon begin to gorge his prey, and slowly but surely it will disappear down that distended maw!
    Johann Wyss  --  The Swiss Family Robinson
  • distended = extended or swollen
  • He was in trouble, his abdomen distended and his nose and ears hot.
    John Steinbeck  --  Travels with Charley
  • distended = swollen (sticking out)
  • As Scabior said it, Harry's scar, which was stretched tight across his distended forehead, burned savagely.
    J.K. Rowling  --  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
  • distended = extended or swollen
  • He felt her belly, not through the shirt but under it, his fingertips cold and rough like bark on her distended skin.
    Khaled Hosseini  --  A Thousand Splendid Suns
  • distended = sticking out (extended or swollen)
  • Dan used the steak knives, darning needles, hair curlers, and nylon line, all properly sterilized, and removed an appendix distended and near to bursting.
    Pat Frank  --  Alas, Babylon
  • distended = extended or swollen
  • the dusty, heavily distended, black-tarred wineskin that hung neck down from the wall
    Ernest Hemingway  --  For Whom the Bell Tolls
  • distended = extended (swollen outward)
  • She chewed quietly and steadily; at regular intervals a small distension passed smoothly down her throat.
    William Faulkner  --  The Sound and the Fury
  • distension = swelling
    (editor's note:  The suffix "-sion", converts a verb into a noun that denotes the action or result of the verb. Typically, there is a slight change in the ending of the root verb, as in admission from admit, discussion from discuss, and invasion from invade.)
  • Like a shark preparing to take bait, the goblin's jaws distended.
    Henry H. Neff  --  The Maelstrom
  • distended = extended
  • He stood on the distended belly of the mule for a platform and made gestures.
    Zora Neale Hurston  --  Their Eyes Were Watching God
  • distended = extended outward
  • She was misshapen; her belly, tight and heavy and distended, made it impossible for her to stand without supporting herself with her hands.
    John Steinbeck  --  East of Eden
  • distended = extended or swollen
  • In Cite Soleil, where people live in huts the size of outhouses with sewage creeping between their toes, a boy with a distended belly sits with the flies.
    Rick Bragg  --  All Over but the Shoutin'
distended = swollen

Dictionary / pronunciation — Google®Dictionary list — Onelook.com®
Search for other examples by interest
InterestSource
General — Google News®
General — Time® Magazine
General — Wikipedia®
Architecture — Google® books - Architecture
Business — Bloomberg®
Business — The Economist®
Classic Literature — Google® books - Classical Literature
Engineering — Google® books - Engineering
Engineering — Popular Mechanics®
Engineering — Discover Magazine®
Fine Arts & Music — Google® books - Art
History — Google® books - History
Human Behavior — Google® books - Psychology
Human Behavior — Psychology Today®
Law — FindLaw®
Law — Google® books - Law
Logic & Reasoning — Google® books - Reasoning
Medicine — Web MD®
Medicine — Google® books - Medicine
Nature & Ecology — National Geographic®
Nature & Ecology — Google® books - Nature
Personal Finance — Kiplinger® (Personal Finance)
Philosophy — Google® books - Philosophy
Public Policy & Politics — Newsweek®
Public Policy & Politics — Real Clear Politics®
Public Policy & Politics — Google® books - Politics
Religion & Spirtuality — Google® books - Religion
Religion - Christianity — Bible Gateway®
Religion - Christianity — Google® books - Christianity
Science — Popular Science®
Science — Scientific American®
Science — Google® books - Science
Sports — Sports Illustrated®