to be on the stretch

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

1.Act of stretching, or state of being stretched; reach; effort; struggle; strain; as, a stretch of the limbs; a stretch of the imagination. [1913 Webster]

By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain.— Dryden.[1913 Webster]

Those put a lawful authority upon the stretch, to the abuse of yower, under the color of prerogative.— L'Estrange.[1913 Webster]

2.A continuous line or surface; a continuous space of time; as, grassy stretches of land. [1913 Webster]

A great stretch of cultivated country.— W. Black.[1913 Webster]

But all of them left me a week at a stretch.— E. Eggleston.[1913 Webster]

3.The extent to which anything may be stretched. [1913 Webster]

Quotations, in their utmost stretch, can signify no more than that Luther lay under severe agonies of mind.— Atterbury.[1913 Webster]

This is the utmost stretch that nature can.— Granville.[1913 Webster]

4.(Naut.) The reach or extent of a vessel's progress on one tack; a tack or board. [1913 Webster]

5.Course; direction; as, the stretch of seams of coal. [1913 Webster]

To be on the stretch, to be obliged to use one's utmost powers.

Home stretch. See under Home, a. [1913 Webster]