Span vs Stretch - What's the difference?
span | stretch |
The space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; eighth of a fathom.
Hence, a small space or a brief portion of time.
* Alexander Pope
* Farquhar
* 2007 . Zerzan, John. Silence .
The spread or extent of an arch or between its abutments, or of a beam, girder, truss, roof, bridge, or the like, between supports.
The length of a cable, wire, rope, chain between two consecutive supports.
(nautical) A rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used.
(obsolete) A pair of horses or other animals driven together; usually, such a pair of horses when similar in color, form, and action.
(mathematics) the space of all linear combinations of something
To traverse the distance between.
To cover or extend over an area or time period.
* Prescott
To measure by the span of the hand with the fingers extended, or with the fingers encompassing the object.
* Bible, Isa. xiviii. 13
(mathematics) to generate an entire space by means of linear combinations
(intransitive, US, dated) To be matched, as horses.
To fetter, as a horse; to hobble.
(archaic, nonstandard) (spin)
*
* '>citation
*:a giant pick-up truck span out of control during a stunt show in a Dutch town, killing three people
(label) To lengthen by pulling.
(label) To lengthen when pulled.
* Boyle
(label) To pull tight.
To get more use than expected from a limited resource.
To make inaccurate by exaggeration.
(label) To extend physically, especially from limit point to limit point.
* , chapter=1
, title= To extend one’s limbs or another part of the body in order to improve the elasticity of one's muscles
(label) To extend to a limit point
(label) To increase.
* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=October 29, author=Neil Johnston, work=BBC Sport
, title= To stretch the truth; to exaggerate.
(label) To sail by the wind under press of canvas.
An act of stretching.
The ability to lengthen when pulled.
A course of thought which diverts from straightforward logic, or requires extraordinary belief.
A segment of a journey or route.
(label) A quick pitching delivery used when runners are on base where the pitcher slides his leg instead of lifting it.
(label) A long reach in the direction of the ball with a foot remaining on the base by a first baseman in order to catch the ball sooner.
A length of time.
*
(label) A term of address for a tall person
* 2007 , Michael Farrell, Running with Buffalo
*:“Hey, Stretch ,” he shouted at a tall, spectacled co-worker, “turn the fucking station, will you? You know I can't stand Rush, and it's all they play on this one. If I hear those assholes whine 'Tom Sawyer' one more time, I may go on a fucking killing spree.
In nautical terms the difference between span and stretch
is that span is a rope having its ends made fast so that a purchase can be hooked to the bight; also, a rope made fast in the center so that both ends can be used while stretch is to sail by the wind under press of canvas.As nouns the difference between span and stretch
is that span is the space from the thumb to the end of the little finger when extended; nine inches; eighth of a fathom while stretch is an act of stretching.As verbs the difference between span and stretch
is that span is to traverse the distance between while stretch is to lengthen by pulling.As an acronym SPAN
is suicide Prevention Advocacy Network.span
English
Etymology 1
(etyl) spannNoun
(en noun)- Yet not to earth's contracted span / Thy goodness let me bound.
- Life's but a span ; I'll every inch enjoy.
- The unsilent present is a time of evaporating attention spans ,
Etymology 2
Old English spannanVerb
(spann)- The suspension bridge spanned the canyon as tenuously as one could imagine.
- The parking lot spans three acres.
- The novel spans three centuries.
- World record! 5 GHz WiFi connection spans 189 miles. [http://www.engadget.com/2007/08/27/world-record-5ghz-wifi-connection-spans-189-miles/]
- The rivers were spanned by arches of solid masonry.
- to span''' a space or distance; to '''span a cylinder
- My right hand hath spanned the heavens.
Etymology 3
Verb
(head)Anagrams
* English irregular simple past forms ----stretch
English
Verb
- The inner membrane because it would stretch and yield, remained unbroken.
Mr. Pratt's Patients, chapter=1 , passage=Pretty soon I struck into a sort of path […]. It twisted and turned,
Norwich 3-3 Blackburn, passage=Yakubu took advantage of John Ruddy's error to put the visitors back in front, with Chris Samba's header stretching their advantage.}}
- a man apt to stretch in his report of facts
- The ship stretched to the eastward.
Noun
(es)- I was right in the middle of a stretch when the phone rang.
- To say crossing the street was brave was quite a stretch.
- That rubber band has quite a bit of stretch.
- It's a bit of a stretch to call Boris Karloff a comedian.
- It was an easy trip except for the last stretch , which took forever.
- He did a 7-year stretch in jail.
- After the harvest there was a stretch of clear dry weather, and the animals toiled harder than ever
