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extend

verb

Simple meaning

Lengthen in time; cause to be or last longer.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihkstehnd

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪksˈtɛnd

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. transitive

    To cause to increase in extent.

  2. Lengthen in time; cause to be or last longer

  3. intransitive

    To possess a certain extent; to cover an amount of space.

  4. transitive

    To bestow; to offer; to impart; to apply.

  5. To increase in quantity by weakening or adulterating additions.

  6. transitive

    To straighten (a limb).

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
A2 · Elementary (estimated)
Frequency
Common
Typical Use
Everyday English

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To cause to increase in extent.

Used this way, extend is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Moderately common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use extend

  • “The war extended over five years.”verb
  • “The awning extends several feet over the sidewalk.”verb
  • “The King extended his rule to the Eastern part of the continent.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

extend far

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • lead

    To be a cause of. [with to].

  • expand

    To increase the extent, number, volume or scope of (something).

  • put out

    To cause something to be out, particularly.

  • gallop

    To cause to gallop.

Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • extendedadjectiveInflected form

    Fully extended or stretched forth.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • extend toverbCompound term

    To extend as far as.

  • extended care facilitynounCompound term

    A medical institution that provides prolonged care (as in cases of prolonged illness or rehabilitation from acute illness).

  • extended familynounCompound term

    A family consisting of the nuclear family and their blood relatives.

  • extended ordernounCompound term

    A military formation for skirmishing.

  • extended time scalenounCompound term

    The time scale used in data processing when the time-scale factor is greater than one.

  • extend oneselfverbCompound term

    Strain to the utmost.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to cause to increase in extent

expand

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.