to be on the stretch

Stretch \Stretch\, n.
   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]