Meaning & use
a stretcher
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Meanings
nouncountable
a light frame with a sheet of strong cloth or metal, used to carry a sick or injured person.
Grammar: Countable: one stretcher, two stretchers; it usually follows "on" when someone is being carried.
Patterns
- on a stretcher
- carry someone on a stretcher
- a stretcher for patients
The paramedics lifted the injured cyclist onto a stretcher.
She was carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
Two nurses pushed a stretcher down the corridor.
nouncountabletechnical
a device or frame that holds cloth tight so it can be painted or printed.
Grammar: Countable and common in art and printing contexts; often used with "frame" or "canvas".
Patterns
- a canvas stretcher
- stretch a canvas on a stretcher
He nailed the canvas to a wooden stretcher before painting.
The printer fixed the screen to a metal stretcher.
nouncountable
a bar or board used to keep something wide open or spread out, such as a shoe or a tent opening.
Grammar: Countable; usually appears in compounds like "shoe stretcher" or "tent stretcher".
Patterns
- a shoe stretcher
- a tent stretcher
He put a shoe stretcher inside his new boots to loosen them.
The tent stretcher keeps the opening wide.
Word forms
| plural | stretchers |
|---|
Common combinations
- on a stretcher
- The player left the field on a stretcher.
- carry someone on a stretcher
- They carried him on a stretcher to the ambulance.
- lift someone onto a stretcher
- The crew lifted her onto a stretcher carefully.
- a stretcher bearer
- A stretcher bearer ran toward the wounded soldier.
- be taken away on a stretcher
- He was taken away on a stretcher after the crash.
Synonyms and how they differ
- gurney
- More common in American hospitals for the wheeled bed used to move patients; "stretcher" is the general word and is also used in British English.
- litter
- An older or military word for a simple carrying frame; it sounds old-fashioned or technical today.
- cot
- A light folding bed, not a carrying frame; use "cot" for sleeping, not for emergencies.
Word family
Commonly confused: a stretcher or stretcher? a stretcher or stretcher?
a stretcher vs stretcher
Do not confuse with "stretcher" in the phrase "stretcher case," which means a person badly injured and carried away; the noun alone is the frame.
a stretcher vs stretcher
Learners sometimes say "in a stretcher"; the natural preposition is "on a stretcher."
Practice
The injured man was carried off the mountain ___ a stretcher.
Choose one answer.
"On a stretcher" is the fixed phrase for someone being carried on the frame. "In" suggests being inside something, and "at" or "by" do not fit this pattern.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “a stretcher”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.