Is it possible to define the word stretch?

Question

Possible Duplicate:
How to change the interword spacing?

i would like to know if is possible to set the space between the words like i can do with the lines with \baselinestretch?

Answer 1

You can insert additional interword space using \spaceskip, e.g.

\spaceskip 6pt plus 1pt minus 1pt

The first value is the normal width of the resulting extra space, the second and third are the amounts by which it is allowed to grow and shrink, respectively. For comparison, you can enquire about the default interword spacing using \the.

\documentclass{article}
\begin{document}
Default:
\the\fontdimen2\font\
plus
\the\fontdimen3\font\
minus
\the\fontdimen4\font

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

\spaceskip 6pt plus 1pt minus 1pt
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
\end{document}

Answer 2

Horizontal stretch of a specific length:

Here\hspace{.5in}is a 0.5 inch space

Stretch to fill whole line:

Here is a \hfill stretched space

Examples taken from Lamport's Manual.

Answer 3

Maybe you are looking for:

\setlength{\spaceskip}{Xpt plus Yfil}

(choose X and Y as you like)