Stretch-out
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A practice of industrial operation, especially in the textile industry, by which workers are required to do additional work without a proportional increase in wages.
"The strike committee's statement today […] said the “stretchout system has become a scourge and the principal weapon used by the employers to beat the workers into subjection[.]” […] Of the stretch-out, the committee declared: / “We are sick and tired of listening to people tell us that there is nothing we can do about the stretch-out. […]”"
- 2 A stretch limousine.
"As time progressed, the Gray Line increased its limo fleet, converted the stretchouts into passenger vehicles (later widely emulated), and brought the first sightseeing buses to the Islands."
Synonyms
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More examples"The strike committee's statement today […] said the “stretchout system has become a scourge and the principal weapon used by the employers to beat the workers into subjection[.]” […] Of the stretch-out, the committee declared: / “We are sick and tired of listening to people tell us that there is nothing we can do about the stretch-out. […]”"
Etymology
Deverbal from stretch out.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.