elongate
v.v. to make something longer or to become longer. In science, it often describes how parts of a plant or animal stretch out.
v. to lengthen or cause to become longer. Often describes the physical extension of biological structures or the stretching of light in astronomical contexts.
The sunflower stem will elongate as it grows toward the light.
During the dry season, the roots of the desert plant will elongate to reach deeper water sources.
The gravitational pull of the moon causes the Earth's oceans to elongate slightly, resulting in the predictable rise and fall of the tides.
From Late Middle English elongat, elongate (“kept away; different or remote in nature”, adjective), borrowed from Late Latin ēlongātus (“having been stretched out, elongated; prolonged, protracted; having been kept aloof, removed”) + Middle English -at (suffix forming participles). Ēlongātus is the perfect passive participle of ēlongō (“to prolong, protract; to keep aloof, remove; to depart, withdraw”), from Latin ē- (a variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’)) + longus (“extended, long, prolonged; far”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos (“long”, adjective)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs). Doublet of eloign. Cognates * French éloigner