伸ばす
のばす · nobasu · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to extend
🦒 No bus? Then stretch your legs: nobasu = to stretch, to extend
The kanji 伸 is 亻 (person) + 申, which first stood for lightning reaching across the sky. So it means a person reaching out. 伸ばす is the transitive form: you stretch something out yourself. Its pair 伸びる means something grows or stretches by itself.
伸 — person radical 亻 + 申 (extend/state)
伸 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 亻 (person) gives the meaning, suggesting a body action, while 申 originally depicted lightning stretching across the sky and supplies the sound. Together they convey the idea of a person stretching or extending.