To stretch means to make something longer or wider by pulling it. When you stretch a rubber band between your fingers, it gets longer and thinner. When you stretch your arms above your head after sitting for a while, you're extending your muscles to their full length. Athletes stretch before games to warm up their muscles and help prevent injuries.

The word can also mean to make something last longer or go further than usual. If your family is trying to stretch the grocery budget, you're making the same amount of money cover more meals. When you stretch the truth, you're exaggerating a story to make it more interesting. A teacher might stretch a lesson across two days instead of one.

A stretch can also be a continuous period of time or distance. A runner might face a tough stretch of trail going uphill. A baseball team on a winning stretch is having a good run. When someone says “that's a stretch,” they mean your explanation or excuse seems unlikely or requires too much imagination to believe.

The phrase by any stretch of the imagination means “even if you're being extremely generous or creative.” If someone says your messy room isn't clean by any stretch of the imagination, they mean there's simply no way to call it clean, no matter how you look at it.