Long canvas frames supported by handles used to carry injured or sick people, or devices that make shoes or clothing wider to fit better.
From Middle English 'stretchen' (to extend), related to Old English 'streccan'. The suffix '-er' denotes an agent or tool. Originally meant something that stretches, later applied to medical carrying devices in the 1700s.
During the American Civil War, stretcher-bearer was one of the deadliest jobs because soldiers had to cross battlefields exposed to fire—imagine risking your life repeatedly to help others.
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