Rather than implementing the at-rule (@extend) syntax used by SASS and Stylus, LESS implemented the pseudo-class syntax, which gives LESS's implementation the flexibility to be applied either directly to a selector itself, or inside a statement. So both of these will work:
.sidenav:extend(.nav) {...}
or
.sidenav {
&:extend(.nav);
...
}
Additionally, you can use the all directive to extend "nested" classes as well:
.sidenav:extend(.nav all){};
And you can add a comma-separated list of classes you wish to extend:
.global-nav {
&:extend(.navbar, .nav all, .navbar-fixed-top all, .navbar-inverse);
height: 70px;
}
When extending nested selectors you should notice the differences: