distend
/dɪˈstɛnd/verb
distend is spelled D-I-S-T-E-N-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 182,517th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, distend means “To extend or expand, as from internal pressure; to swell” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in distend?
| Letters | 7: D-I-S-T-E-N-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 35 million words; the 182,517th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is distend?
Distend appears about once in every 35 million words in written English, the 182,517th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce distend?
- UK /dɪˈstɛnd/
Distend has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-distend.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with distend?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as distend from its last stressed vowel (/ɛnd/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of distend
- distends present, singular, he/she/it
- distending participle, present
- distended participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does distend mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To extend or expand, as from internal pressure; to swell
- 2
archaicTo extend; to stretch out; to spread out.
- 3
To cause to swell.
- 4
To cause gravidity.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Distend in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to extend or expand:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does distend come from?
Borrowed from Latin distendō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).