To expand or cause to expand, typically as a result of internal pressure.
The balloon grew bigger and bigger, its thin rubber starting to pull. He kept blowing, pushing more air inside. Soon, it looked like it would distend and pop, straining from the pressure within.
The old plumbing groaned. Water, cold and forceful, hammered against the pipes, making them distend with each surge. You could almost hear the metal straining, a low, desperate sound as it pushed back against the relentless, unseen force within.
The old gas canister sat in the sun, forgotten. Inside, something was brewing, the air growing hotter. Soon, the metal began to distend, bulging outwards, strained by the building pressure within. Everyone backed away, worried it would burst.
My belly began to distend after I ate the entire pizza. It felt like a balloon, pushing out and out. I even think my shirt started to distend, stretching over my food-filled tummy like a tiny, very unhappy tent.
My pet rock, Bartholomew, ate a whole pizza. Now his stony belly starts to distend, puffing out like a grumpy balloon. He looks like he might pop, which would be messy.
The hot air balloon began to distend, its fabric ballooning outward as the burner roared. A nervous tremor went through the passengers as the basket lifted, the ground shrinking away below. The sheer size of it, once just a colorful patch, was now overwhelming.
The inflatable raft, pumped with desperate breaths, began to distend, stretching its seams taut. A bead of sweat trickled down Maria's temple; if it didn't inflate enough, they wouldn't float over the treacherous submerged debris.
The ancient fungal spore, dormant for centuries, began to distend. Deep within the rock, a faint warmth stirred, causing the packed cells to swell. Pressure built, a silent, irresistible urge, until the spore finally ruptured, releasing its alien life.
The runaway balloon, after gobbling up a whole helium factory, began to distend with such impressive speed, it looked like a grape trying to become a planet. Eventually, it achieved liftoff, much to the shock of a startled pigeon who was just trying to enjoy its pretzel.
Barry the badger, fueled by a suspicious gas station burrito, began to distend alarmingly. His formerly sleek physique puffed out like an overinflated balloon, threatening to pop his favorite tweed waistcoat. He waddled, a furry, expanding orb, toward the nearest park bench, hoping gravity would assist in his rapid deflation.
The ancient bellows creaked, their leather sides beginning to distend as the baker pumped them. He watched, his breath held tight, praying the pressure would hold. Too much, and they would burst.
The ancient boiler's metal groaned under the immense, building pressure, threatening to distend and burst. Every rivet seemed to strain, a testament to the invisible force pushing outwards, each tick of the gauge a heartbeat closer to catastrophe.
The ancient caldera, a vast, silent wound in the earth, felt a tremor. Deep beneath the crust, geothermal forces began to build, a slow, insistent pressure. Soon, the surface would distend, cracking and heaving as the molten rock strained against its brittle prison.
After the questionable chili-eating contest, Reginald's stomach began to distend with the alarming speed of a blimp inflating for a surprise circus. He groaned, feeling a profound internal pressure that threatened to turn his sensible tweed vest into a precarious, brightly colored balloon.
The ceremonial gorging began, and Barnaby’s abdomen started to distend as he inhaled his fifth platter of artisanal cheese puffs. He moaned with a profound satisfaction, his waistband straining heroically against the encroaching expansion, a testament to his unwavering dedication to conquering the buffet.
The small, contained vial began to distend ominously. Inside, the volatile reagents bubbled furiously, their unseen forces pushing outward. A palpable unease settled over the onlookers as the glass strained, threatening to rupture under the immense internal pressure.
The ancient bellows, their leather taut and cracked, began to distend under the desperate puffs of air, the obsidian forge a hungry maw. Each expansion felt like a defiant breath against the encroaching chill, a primal urge to reignite the dying embers.
The alchemist watched, apoplectic, as the retort began to distend, its glass walls groaning under the volatile alchemy's escalating internal pressure. He'd miscalculated the resonant frequency of the arcane phosphors, and now, a cataclysmic expansion threatened to obliterate his clandestine laboratory.
Upon ingesting a gargantuan portion of his aunt's notoriously effervescent fruitcake, Bartholomew's corpulent abdomen began to distend with alarming alacrity, its contours expanding like a blimp inflated with the methane of a thousand fermented plums. He suspected his trousers would soon capitulate.
The gastronomic adventurer, after consuming an audacious quantity of subterranean fungi, experienced a most prodigious and alarming anatomical distend; his corpulence, heretofore merely ample, began to distend with such alacrity that observers feared his sartorial accoutrements might spontaneously eviscerate.
Advanced — Less frequent words that stretch an upper-level vocabulary.