View synonyms for

stretcher

[ strech-er ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Medicine/Medical.
1. a kind of litter, often of canvas stretched on a frame, for carrying the sick, wounded, or dead.
2. a similar litter on wheels, adapted for use in ambulances and hospitals.
a person or thing that stretches.
any of various instruments for extending, widening, distending, etc.
a bar, beam, or fabricated material, serving as a tie or brace.
Masonry. a brick or stone laid in a wall so that its longer edge is exposed or parallel to the surface. Compare header ( def 5a ).
a simple wooden framework on which the canvas for an oil painting is stretched.
Furniture.
1. a framework connecting and bracing the legs of a piece of furniture.
2. one member of this framework.
a crosspiece that is set athwart and near the bottom in a small boat, and against which the feet of a rower are braced.
one of the thin, sliding rods connecting the canopy and handle of an umbrella.

verb (used with object)

to stretch (canvas for a painting) on a stretcher.

stretcher

/ ˈ��ٰ�ɛ��ʃə /

noun

a device for transporting the ill, wounded, or dead, consisting of a frame covered by canvas or other material
a strengthening often decorative member joining the legs of a chair, table, etc
the wooden frame on which canvas is stretched and fixed for oil painting
a tie beam or brace used in a structural framework
a brick or stone laid horizontally with its length parallel to the length of a wall Compare header
rowing a fixed board across a boat on which an oarsman braces his feet
a camp bed
slang.
an exaggeration or lie

verb

to transport (a sick or injured person) on a stretcher

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Word History and Origins

Origin of stretcher¹

First recorded in 1375–1425, stretcher is from the late Middle English word stretcher. See stretch, -er ¹

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Medics from the nearby surgery ran to Harry's aid, firefighters used a ladder as a makeshift stretcher to take him to a nearby shop from where the Great North Air Ambulance took him to hospital.

From

Some of those returning were elderly – one man was carried across on a stretcher, another in a bed.

From

Within minutes of the collapse, emergency services arrived, as ambulances and stretchers "kept coming".

From

At regular intervals, a team emerges from the site carrying a body covered by a blanket on a stretcher.

From

Footage showed her being carried on a stretcher to a waiting ambulance, surrounded by emergency workers.

From

stretch a point stretcher-bearer

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