distension

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

Borrowed from Middle French; cf. Latin distentio.

She chewed quietly and steadily; at regular intervals a small distension passed smoothly down her throat. — The sound and the fury, William Faulkner
‘Your mother-in-law,’ said Mr. Weller; and it was lucky he did say it, or his cheeks must inevitably have cracked, from their most unnatural distension. — The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens
It is said, too, that he intended to publish an edict, “allowing to all people the liberty of giving vent at table to any distension occasioned by flatulence,” upon hearing of a person whose modesty, when under restraint, had nearly cost him his life. — The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete, Suetonius

distention

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