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extend
extend across something
to spread across something. The shadows extended across the whole land. The fog extended across the low-lying land.
extend credit (to someone or a company)
and extend someone or a company creditto allow someone to purchase something on credit. I'm sorry, Mr. Smith, but because of your poor record of payment, we are no longer able to extend credit to you. Look at this letter, Jane. The store won't extend credit anymore.
extend (from something) (to something)
to spread from one point to another point. The cloud of smoke extended from one end of town to the other. It extended to the end of the road from our front gate.
extend one's sympathy (to someone)
to express sympathy to someone. (A very polite and formal way to tell someone that you are sorry about a misfortune.) Please permit me to extend my sympathy to you and your children. I'm very sorry to hear of the death of your husband. Let's extend our sympathy to Bill Jones, who is in the hospital with a broken leg. We should send him some flowers.
extend over someone or something
to spread over someone or something. The smoke extended over Tom and his friends, who were having a picnic. The cloud extended over the entire valley.
extend something to something
1. . to lengthen something to reach something. We extended the antenna to its full length. Extend your arm to the wall and see how straight you can make it.
2. to push a stated deadline further into the future. I will extend the deadline to Friday. We cannot extend the due date to next month.
extend to someone or something
to reach all the way to someone or something. This policy extends to you also. The road extends to Los Angeles.
extend credit to
Also, extend someone credit. Allow a purchase on credit; also, permit someone to owe money. For example, The store is closing your charge account; they won't extend credit to you any more, or The normal procedure is to extend you credit for three months, and after that we charge interest . This idiom uses the verb extend in the sense of "offer" or "provide," a usage dating from the mid-1500s.
give credit
1. Also, extend credit. Trust someone to pay at some future time what he or she owes. For example, I haven't enough cash this month, so I hope they'll give me credit. This use of credit dates from the mid-1500s.
2. Acknowledge an accomplishment, as in They really should give her credit for the work she's done. [Late 1700s] The phrase is sometimes amplified to give credit where credit is due, meaning the acknowledgment should be to the person who deserves it. This expression was probably coined by Samuel Adams in a letter (October 29, 1777), which put it: "Give credit to whom credit due." It is sometimes put give someone their due, as in We should really give Nancy her due for trying to sort out this mess.
extend to
v.1. To stretch out to some point: The road extends to the next city.
2. To lengthen or prolong something to some point: We extended the table's legs to raise its height. I'd like to extend my holiday to the weekend.
3. To include someone or something in a sphere of influence: These rules extend to applications submitted before this morning.
4. To offer something to someone: Extend my best wishes to your family.