▪ I. stretcher, n.
(ˈstrɛtʃə(r))
Also 5 strecher, 8 streacher.
[f. stretch v. + -er1.]
I. One who or something which stretches.
1. One who stretches; spec. a worker employed in various industries to stretch fabrics.
| c 1420 ? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 674 There were bosters, braggars, & brybores, Praters, fasers, strechers, & wrythers. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xxi. 135 Yet his hopes enstild His strength, the stretcher of Vlysses string. 1721 Wodrow Hist. Ch. Scot. (1829) II. ii. iv. 126 When things are stretched too far, they break to the hurt of the stretcher. 1820 J. Brown Hist. Brit. Churches I. vii. 213 Arminian stretchers of the royal prerogative were caressed and preferred. 1823 Scott Quentin D. vii, The scraper of chins hath no great love for the stretcher of throats. 1861 Internat. Exhib. 1862, Alph. Lists Trades 39 Stretchers. 1881 Instr. Census Clerks (1885) 54 Carver, Gilder:..Stretcher (Canvas). Ibid. 60 Woollen Cloth Manufacture:..Stretcher. Ibid. 67. |
2. An exaggerated story or yarn; chiefly
euphemistically or
jocularly, a lie.
| 1674 [J. Patrick] Refl. Devot. Rom. Ch. 416 Any story of a Cock and a Bull, will serve their turns to found a Festival upon,..though the circumstances are never so improbable. This of removing the Rock is a pretty stretcher. 1677 S. Herne Acc. Charterhouse v. 29 Now listen to a visible Stretcher. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Stretcher, an untruth; a softer term for a falsehood. 1840 E. E. Napier Scenes & Sports For. Lands II. vi. 215 This may, perhaps, be a stretcher; but, however, it is certain that [etc.]. 1855 Ogilvie Suppl., Stretcher, a notorious lie. (Local.) 1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men xii. 196 When the pipes are lit, and the boys are telling stretchers about the dangers they have passed through. |
II. Technical senses.
† 3. Falconry. A toe of a hawk or falcon.
Obs.| 1486 Bk. St. Albans, Hawking a viii, The Clees that are uppon the medyll strecheris ye shall call the loong Sengles. 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 55 She hath no great scales upon hir legges, unlesse it be a fewe that beginne behinde the three stretchers. 1677 N. Cox Gentl. Recr. ii. 207 The Haggard... A large wide Foot, with slender Stretchers. Ibid. 208 Of the Barbary-Faulcon..with long Talons and Stretchers. |
4. a. An instrument or appliance for expanding material, making it taut, removing its wrinkles, and the like.
| 1532 More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 1557. 800/1 Stretchyng oute hys wryncles with the stretching them vppon the stretcher or tenter hookes of the crosse. 1774 in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Music (1871) 9 [The silk strings] are then to be put on a stretcher that they may dry in a proper tension. 1825 J. Nicholson Oper. Mech. 382 The cotton, or..roving, is taken out and wound upon a bobbin, and..carried to a machine called a stretcher. 1838 in Newton's Lond. Jrnl. Conj. Ser. (1840) XVI. 65 Having determined the figure or design to be produced, the cloth..is spread..in lengths..over a stretcher of canvas, which stretcher is placed in a frame. 1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 5130, Marking-ink, linen stretcher, &c., with specimens. |
b. A frame upon which an artist's canvas is spread and drawn tight by means of corner-pieces or wedges. See also
quot. 1875.
| 1847 Man. Oil-Paintng 48 There are, however, certain sizes [of canvas] which are always kept on hand at the shops, ready mounted on stretchers. 1867 Trollope Chron. Barset II. lx. 177 The rent canvas fell and fluttered upon the stretcher. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Stretcher, a corner⁓piece for distending a canvas frame. |
c. Leather-manuf. (
a)
= stake n.1 5 b; (
b) a hand-tool used in finishing leather.
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 767 [The skins] are dried with the fleece outermost,..and are finished upon the stretcher. 1872 Saddlers' Gaz. 1 Dec. 212/1 The hide..is then turned over and the hair side moistened with water and rubbed with a copper stretcher until it is nearly dry. |
d. An instrument for easing the fit of boots, gloves, hats, etc.
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Stretcher,..an instrument for easing boots or gloves. 1885 Harper's Mag. Feb. 449/2 She was manipulating the..pair of stretchers. |
5. A bar serving as a stay or brace.
a. A buttress in masonry; a tie-beam in joinery; in trench timbering, a temporary strut.
| 1774 W. Gostling Walk Canterb. xxxi. 136 There seems to have been some failing in the south-west pillar, and..care has been..taken to prevent any ill consequences of it by adding stretchers of stone-work on all sides to stiffen it... The stretchers are very substantial and deep walls of stone pierced in such patterns as make them..an ornament: They are carried on arches from this pillar to two other principal ones. a 1805 Robison Syst. Mech. Philos. (1822) I. 669 The struts which carry the king-post spring from those points of the stretcher where it rests on the strut below. 1869 C. Knight Mechanician 67 The class of columns represented by Fig. 130 are used also as stays, and in the horizontal position; they are in such cases named stretchers, and should be forged as nearly as possible to the intended form. |
b. A bar or rod used as a tie or brace in the framework of an article;
esp. a cross-piece between the handles of a plough or the legs of a chair.
| 1844 H. Stephens Book of Farm I. 413 The stretchers which support and retain the handles [of the plough] at their due distance apart. 1846 Holtzapffel Turning II. 725 There is a central rod or stretcher [to the frame saw], to which are mortised two end pieces that have a slight power of rotation on the stretcher. 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 196 The ordinary [Embroidery] Frames are made of four pieces of wood, the two upright pieces of which are called Bars,..and two horizontal pieces, called Stretchers. 1902 [see stretcher bar (c) in 12]. 1905 C. G. Harper Oxf. Road I. 125 Four men thus working will ‘get out’ the timber [beech] and turn it into legs or rails—‘stretchers’ as they call them in the trade—at the rate of four gross a day. |
c. A bar which keeps apart the traces between every two horses in a team.
| 1828 Carr Craven Gloss. 1852 C. W. Hoskyns Talpa xvi. (1854) 136 The fore-horse..turned suddenly..into the high⁓road, grazing Mr. Greening's unspurred foot with the point of the leader's stretcher. |
d. Naut. (See
quot.)
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Stretchers... Also cross⁓pieces placed between a boat's sides to keep them apart when hoisted up and griped. |
e. Mining. A prop or sprag.
| 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal-Mining 244. |
6. A bar or rod used to expand and to keep expanded something collapsible.
a. A jointed or sliding rod used to spread the head or legs of a thing,
esp. each of the rods pivoted at the ends to the ribs and the sleeve which slides upon the stick of an umbrella.
| 1833 Reg. Deb. Congr. U.S. 22nd Congr. 1 Sess. App. p. xli, [Duty] on square wire used for the manufacture of stretchers for umbrellas..twelve per centum ad valorem. 1843 Holtzapffel Turning I. 136 Whalebone is now principally used for the stretchers for umbrellas. 1857 Repert. Patent Invent. June 511 Samuel Fox,..for heating..ribs and stretchers of umbrellas and parasols. 1886 Rock in Abridgm. Specif. Patents Opt. etc. Instrum. (1875) 515 For tripod stands I employ three elongating stretchers converging to a point in the middle (when the legs are spread); they are formed of brass tubes sliding one within the other. 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., Stretcher... 5. (Vehicle.) A jointed rod by whose extension the carriage bows are separated and expanded, so as to spread the canopy or hood. |
b. A stick or each of the sticks used to keep a fishing net expanded.
| 1823 J. F. Cooper Pioneers xxiii, Benjamin prided himself greatly on his skill in throwing the net... At length a loud splash in the water, as he threw away the ‘staff’, or ‘stretcher’..announced that the boat was returning. 1884 G. F. Braithwaite Salmonidæ of Westmorld. vi. 23 Lighter sticks or stretchers are attached to the top and bottom cord which keep the net extended. |
c. A piece of wood or metal used to spread the clews of a hammock.
7. A foot-rest in a rowing-boat. (See
quots. 1769, 1898.)
| 1609 Dekker Ravens Alm. B 2, Any Sculer, whose legs get his liuing by a Stretcher, will not deny it. 1697 Dryden æneis x. 417 They tug at ev'ry Oar; and ev'ry Stretcher bends. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780), Stretcher, a sort of staff fixed athwart the bottom of a boat, for the rower to place his feet against, in order to communicate a greater effort to his oar. 1834 Marryat P. Simple xxxi, Swinburne appeared.. followed by the rest of the boat's crew, armed with the boat's stretchers. 1898 Encycl. Sport II. 298/1 (Rowing) Stretcher, a board placed slopingly at a right angle across the boat in front of the oarsman, upon which he braces his feet. |
8. A kind of litter composed of two poles separated by cross-bars upon which canvas is stretched, used to transport sick or wounded persons.
| 1845 Ann. Reg. 380/1 After the body was discovered Fletcher went for the stretcher. 1875 Encycl. Brit. I. 668/2 The ambulance conveyances authorised for use in the British army are..1. Conveyances carried by the hands of bearers, called stretchers; 2. Conveyances wheeled by men, wheeled stretchers, [etc.]. 1892 Bierce In Midst of Life 129 Two were hospital attendants and carried a stretcher. |
9. a. A folding bed or bedstead chiefly for camp or hospital use; also (chiefly
Austral. and
N.Z.), a camp-bed used as a spare bed in a house, etc. Also
pl., the trestles for a bed.
| 1841 Marryat Poacher xlv, They sat down on the stretchers upon which the bed had been laid [in the prison cell] during the night. 1893 F. C. Selous Trav. S.E. Africa 56 He gave me..a stretcher to sleep on in one of the empty chambers. 1943 Amer. Speech XVIII. 86 A common article of furniture [in New Zealand] is a stretcher—a folding camp bed or cot, often used to provide temporary sleeping accommodation in a house. 1974 Weekend Mag. (Montreal) 18 May 21/1 All summer cottages in those days had two or three camp cots or ‘stretchers’, with flat wire springs and small mattresses, which could be folded up and stuffed under beds for use when unexpected or surplus guests arrived. 1980 B. Mason Solo 30 Tim, I got the stretcher out. It's quite sound. Needs a dust, that's all. I'm giving you three blankets. That should be enough. |
b. A flat board on which a corpse is laid out preparatory to coffining. ?
Sc.| 1850 Ogilvie; and in some later Dicts. |
10. Something laid lengthways.
a. Building. A brick or stone laid with its length in the direction of the wall. Also
Fortif., a sod laid in a similar positon.
| 1693 Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 360 If the Header on one side of the Wall, toothed as much as the Stretcher on the other side, it would be a stronger Toothing. 1693 J. Houghton Collect. Improv. Husb. No. 74 ¶3 A Brick-wall of a Foot and half thick is commonly made by Stretchers and Headers. 1725 [see header 5]. 1791 Smeaton Edystone L. (1793) §82 The long pieces or Stretchers were retained between two Headers or bond pieces. 1839 Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. II. 430/2 The front is to be of..stone, laid header and stretcher alternately. 1851, 1884 [see header 5]. |
b. ? A horizontal branch (see
quots.).
| 1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farm. 162 Great Plantations of Hazel, that..are also of vast Service to the Thatcher, by its Stretchers, Sprays, and Withs. 1886 W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., In ‘making’ a hedge certain growing stakes are chopped half through, laid down lengthwise on the hedge, and fastened down with a crook. Earth is then thrown upon them, and they root afresh. These are the stretchers. |
11. Angling. The artificial fly at the extremity of a casting line to which two or more flies are attached.
| 1837 J. Kirkbride Northern Angler 3 The first dropper ought to be about a yard from the stretcher, or tail-fly. 1885 Outing (U.S.) Oct. 77/1 The trout..were lusty, vigorous fellows, and with a ‘Silver Doctor’ as a stretcher, I managed to forget myself..completely. 1938 W. C. Platts Mod. Trout Fishing vii. 59 Two flies—a stretcher, or tail fly, and one dropper—is rather risky. 1963 A. N. Marston Newnes Encycl. Angling 249/1 Stretcher, the bottom fly on a wet-fly cast made up of two or more flies. Usually called a tail fly. |
III. attrib. and
Comb. 12. attrib. and
Comb., as (sense 5 b)
stretcher-bolt,
stretcher-tube;
stretcher-bar, (
a) the bar which is set across a level as a support for a rock-drill; (
b)
Leather-manuf., an appliance for stretching hides transversely; (
c) (see
quot. 1902);
stretcher-bearer (see
quot.);
stretcher-bed,
-bedstead, a folding bed, chiefly for camp or barrack use (
cf. 9);
stretcher-brick (see 10 a);
stretcher case, an injured or sick person needing conveyance on a stretcher;
stretcher-fly (see 11);
stretcher-iron Leather-manuf. = stake n.1 5 b;
stretcher-man = stretcher-bearer;
stretcher-mule (see
quot.);
stretcher-party Mil., a party of men equipped with stretchers and appliances for assisting and removing the wounded;
stretcher-pole, a pole of an ambulance stretcher;
stretcher strain Metallurgy, a furrowed marking on the surface of a metal produced by local deformation.
| 1883 Encyl. Brit. XVI. 448/1 In driving a level with the Darlington drill it is usual to fix the *stretcher bar horizontally across the level so as to command the upper part of the face. 1897 C. T. Davis Manuf. Leather xli. (ed. 2) 544 A stretcher-bar of suitable form for stretching the hides transversely. 1902 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. (ed. 3), Stretcher Bar, or Stretcher, a long bar or bolt shouldered near each end, and used for the purpose of maintaining A frames and side frames at a fixed distance apart and perfectly rigid. |
| 1876 Voyle & Stevenson Milit. Dict. 412/1 *Stretcher Bearers, men..whose special duty..is to carry the wounded from the battle-field, to the ambulance wagons. |
| 1842 Mrs. Gore Fascin. 21 In a gloomy inner room stood a common *stretcher-bed. 1888 Daily News 5 June 6/2 The life of the emergency men in camp..is luxurious... They have stretcher beds and blankets to cover them. |
| 1895 Army & Navy Co-op. Price-list 442 Barrack Furniture and Camp Equipment. Folding *Stretcher Bedstead, Iron frame and legs. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Book of Farm I. 420 The right handle [of the plough] is formed in one bar,..and it is connected to the left handle by the *stretcher-bolts. |
| 1867 Musgrave Nooks & Corners Old France I. 80 A perilous mode of scamping off their work, which among fifty *stretcher bricks, exhibited not two headers. |
| 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings v. 118 On this occasion there was good reason for the delay, as we ceded the right of way to a hospital ship and waited while a procession of ambulance cars drove along the quay and unloaded their *stretcher cases. 1978 R. V. Jones Most Secret War xxxvi. 310 The Navy would not take him because as a stretcher case he would occupy as much space on board ship as four men standing up. |
| 1883 Century Mag. July 379/1 A bass rose and snapped the *stretcher fly before it fully settled on the water. |
| 1839 Ure Dict. Arts 768 The clean skins after being dried, are finished first on the *stretcher-iron, and then on the herse or stretching frame. |
| 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. vii. (ed. 2) 247 If a couple of spare limbers are available the S.A.A. might be placed upon them and drawn by the spare-ammunition and *stretcher-men. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Stretcher-mule, a mule adapted to stretch and twist fine rovings of cotton. |
| 1884 Mil. Engineering I. ii. 112 The strength of the *stretcher party will be determined by the principal medical officer. |
| 1892 Kipling Barrack-room Ballads, Oonts, We socks 'im with a *stretcher-pole. |
| 1931 Metal Progress Sept. 90/1 *Stretcher strains (or more appropriately ‘worms’) are the shop names for the phenomenon known as the ‘Lines of Lüder’, after Lüder of Magdeburg, who first described them in 1860. 1971 Steel in U.S.S.R. I. 899 (heading) Causes of the formation of strain lines (stretcher strains) when drawing stainless-steel tubes. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Book of Farm I. 668 The beam and handles are further connected by *stretcher-tubes and bolts. |
▪ II. stretcher, v. (
ˈstrɛtʃə(r))
[f. the n.] trans. To carry
off or convey (an injured or sick person) on a stretcher.
| 1976 Daily Mirror 15 Mar. 30/6 The sickening blow of seeing Gary Locke stretchered off in only the seventh minute. 1978 J. Updike Coup (1979) i. 7 The beer-crazed mob of American boobs cheers..the crunched leg of the unhome-team left tackle as he is stretchered off the field. 1980 K. Royce Third Arm v. 52 He did not himself feel shock until after Adams had been stretchered from the car. 1982 Times 11 June 6/4 Casualties..were stretchered to a field hospital. |