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HOLLYFRONTIER CHEYENNE REFINING, LLC v. 
RENEWABLE FUELS ASSN. 
Opinion of the Court 

B 
Resolving that much, however, does not resolve this case. 
Really,  it  only  takes  us  to  the  heart  of  the  dispute.    The 
Tenth Circuit didn’t just hold that an extension means an
increase in time—it imposed a continuity requirement.  On 
that court’s view, a small refinery becomes permanently in-
eligible for a further extension of time once its exemption 
lapses.  Even accepting that subparagraph (B)(i) uses the
term “extension” in its temporal sense, the small refineries 
submit  this  was  error.  On  their  view,  small  refineries 
whose exemptions have lapsed in one year may still seek an 
“extension” in a following year.  Indeed, the small refineries 
candidly  characterize  this  as  their  stronger  argument  for 
reversal. 

We agree.  It is entirely natural—and consistent with or-
dinary  usage—to  seek  an  “extension”  of  time  even  after 
some lapse.  Think of the forgetful student who asks for an
“extension” for a term paper after the deadline has passed,
the tenant who does the same after overstaying his lease, 
or parties who negotiate an “extension” of a contract after
its expiration.  Perhaps for reasons like these, the respond-
ents and court of appeals are unable to point to a single dic-
tionary definition of the term “extension” requiring unbro-
ken  continuity.  To  be  sure,  some  definitions  speak  of  an 
extension  as  a  “continuation.”  See,  e.g.,  Black’s  Law  Dic-
tionary 703 (10th ed. 2014) (defining “extension” as “[t]he 
continuation  of  the  same  contract  for  a  specified  period”
(emphasis added)).  And the dissent urges us to read “ex-
tension”  to  mean  “continuation.”  Post,  at  2  (opinion  of 
BARRETT, J.).  But even that term can denote a resumption
after some interrupting lapse.  See, e.g., 3 OED 828 (defin-
ing “continuation” as “the resumption of any interrupted ac-
tion  or  course”);  Webster’s  New  Collegiate  Dictionary  180
(1946) (defining “continuation” as the “[a]ct of continuing; 
esp. a resumption”); B. Garner, Modern English Usage 214 
(4th ed. 2016).