stretch the envelope

present singular third person stretches the envelope · participle present stretching the envelope · participle past stretched the envelope · past stretched the envelope

1. Synonym of push the envelope.

   In a private physician's office, doctors stretch the envelope (although this can become a concern to the state medical board, since that is the only oversight).

   2006, Michael H. Cohen, Mary Ruggie, Marc S. Micozzi, The Practice of Integrative Medicine, page 75

   3 more examples

   We gratefully acknowledge the contributors whose courage and commitment to a multicultural education not only bring hope and possibility to the multicultural terrain but continue to stretch the envelope of praxis in that terrain.

   1998, Rudolfo Chavez Chavez, James O'Donnell, Speaking the Unpleasant

   Throughout the 1980s, advanced latex special effects processes allowed directors like David Cronenberg, Brian Yuzna, and Clive Barker to stretch the envelope of onscreen surrealism with a previously impossible ease.

   2006, Henry Jenkins, The Wow Climax: Tracing the Emotional Impact of Popular Culture

   NPD programs that stretch the envelope are fraught with questions and unknowns. However, the NPD process includes mechanisms for converting unknowns and issues into reliable information and data, and resolvable situations.

   2008, David L. Rainey, Product Innovation, page 534

   Synonyms: push the envelope