Meaning & use
stretch thin
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Meanings
phrasetransitive
To make people or resources work too hard because there are not enough of them for all the tasks.
Grammar: Often used in the passive: 'The staff are stretched thin.' It takes an object: 'The war stretched the army thin.'
Patterns
- stretch someone/something thin
- be stretched thin
The hospital's nurses were stretched thin during the flu season.
Adding another project will stretch our small team thin.
The company's budget was stretched thin after the unexpected repairs.
adjectivenot comparable
Having too few people or resources to do everything that is needed; overburdened.
Grammar: Used after a linking verb like 'be', 'seem', 'become': 'They seem stretched thin.' Not used before a noun.
Patterns
- be stretched thin
- become stretched thin
After the layoffs, the remaining staff were stretched thin.
The police force is stretched thin in rural areas.
Our volunteers are stretched thin and need more help.
Common combinations
- stretched thin
- The teachers are stretched thin with large classes.
- stretch resources thin
- Don't stretch your resources thin by taking on too many orders.
- stretch someone thin
- The new schedule will stretch the workers thin.
- be stretched thin
- The charity is stretched thin after the disaster.
Synonyms and how they differ
- overstretched
- Similar, but 'overstretched' often suggests going beyond a safe limit, while 'stretched thin' emphasizes having too few people or things.
- overburdened
- More formal; it focuses on the heavy load rather than the lack of resources.
Practice
The team is really ______ thin with only three people to handle all the work.
Choose one answer.
After 'is', we need the past participle 'stretched' to form the passive. 'Stretch' and 'stretching' do not fit the passive structure here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stretch thin”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.