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distend (di-STEND) - v., to swell out or expand, esp. from internal pressure; to cause to swell out or expand.
So can be intransitive (the puppy's belly distends) or transitive (the meal distends the puppy's belly). For what it's worth, that's the pronunciation in all dictionaries, but it's more natural for me to say dis-TEND. Dates to around 1400 as distenden, from Anglo-French destendre, from Latin distendere, from dis-, outward/away + tendere, to stretch (as in to tent out).
---L.
So can be intransitive (the puppy's belly distends) or transitive (the meal distends the puppy's belly). For what it's worth, that's the pronunciation in all dictionaries, but it's more natural for me to say dis-TEND. Dates to around 1400 as distenden, from Anglo-French destendre, from Latin distendere, from dis-, outward/away + tendere, to stretch (as in to tent out).
---L.
