stendere

to spread out

verb sten-DEH-reh Rare

Origin: Latin extendere (to stretch out).

Also means

to hang (laundry)

Usage Note

Stendere covers spreading something flat (stendere la pasta = to roll out dough), hanging laundry (stendere il bucato), and knocking someone down (lo ha steso con un pugno = he floored him with a punch). It is irregular: past participle steso. Takes avere as auxiliary.

Examples

"Ha steso il bucato sul balcone."

Natural Translation

She hung the laundry on the balcony.

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