Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of verb distend

3 senses of distend

Sense 1
dilate, distend -- (become wider; "His pupils were dilated")
       => widen -- (become broader or wider or more extensive; "The road widened")

Sense 2
distend -- (cause to expand as it by internal pressure; "The gas distended the animal's body")
       => bloat -- (make bloated or swollen; "Hunger bloated the child's belly")

Sense 3
distend -- (swell from or as if from internal pressure; "The distended bellies of the starving cows")
       => swell, swell up, intumesce, tumefy, tumesce -- (expand abnormally; "The bellies of the starving children are swelling")