[f. STRETCH v. + -ING2.] That stretches, in the senses of the verb. Stretching gallop, a gallop in which the legs of the horse are fully extended.
a. 1547. Surrey, Æneid, IV. 258 (1557), E ij. An hundred hugie great temples he built, In his farre stretching realmes, to Jupiter.
1594. Chapman, Shadow of Nt., E j b. And in the stretching circle of her eye All things are compast.
1697. Dryden, Æneis, X. 297. A hundred sweep, With stretching Oars at once the glassy deep.
1794. Mrs. Radcliffe, Myst. Udolpho, xliii. Stretching plains, And peopled towns.
1815. Sporting Mag., XLVI. 116/1. Bring him [the horse] by degrees to take regular stretching gallops.
1872. Routledge’s Every Boy’s Ann., 2/2. To have a stretching canter on a good horse.
1887. Pall Mall Gaz., 17 Jan., 2/2. It depends upon the nature of the country, whether it is dense forest or stretching park land.
1897. Mary Kingsley, W. Africa, 653. You … want … a conscience made of stretching leather to deal with the Kruboy in the African climate, and live.
b. Stretching beam, a tie-beam or brace used in building.
1776. G. Semple, Building in Water, 70. Be careful, that your stretching Beams lie firm and solid upon all your Caps.
1838. Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 178/2. Stretching beams or braces are framed across to each of the ribs.
