the stretch

noun

: the final straight part of a racecourse before the finish line

the horses are in the (final) stretch

—often used figuratively

She's in the final stretch. The baby's due next month.

They will wind up the season with a winning record having won some crucial games down the stretch.

Examples of the stretch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

But Duke’s marquee stars dominated down the stretch, dealing the Red Storm an 80-75 defeat at Capital One Arena. —Peter Sblendorio, New York Daily News, 28 Mar. 2026

Santos, who scored a career-high 31 points in the Warriors win over Brooklyn on Wednesday, made several big plays down the stretch. —ABC News, 28 Mar. 2026

Swain’s big play brought Texas back even, but Kaufman-Renn and Pope combined to author a classic March Madness moment down the stretch. —Christian Babcock, Mercury News, 27 Mar. 2026

Mazzulla, who rested many of his starters down the stretch in ’24 and ’25, was asked how the playoff race would impact his roster management over the final 10 regular-season games. —Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 27 Mar. 2026

Rhymes for the stretch

• etch
• fetch
• fletch
• ketch
• sketch
• vetch
• wretch