Meaning

noun act of expanding by lengthening or widening

noun exercise designed to extend the limbs and muscles to their full extent

verb occupy a large, elongated area

originFrom Middle English strecchinge, strecchynge, from Old English streċċende, from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjandī, present participle of *strakkjan (“to stretch”), equivalent to stretch + -ing.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0