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long

[lawng, long]

Example Sentences Origin

adjective

having considerable linear extent in space: a long distance; a long handle.

having considerable duration in time: a long conversation; a long while.

extending, lasting, or totaling a number of specified units: eight miles long; eight hours long.

containing many items or units: a long list.

requiring a considerable time to relate, read, etc.: a long story.

EXPAND

extending beyond normal or moderate limits: a long, boring speech.

experienced as passing slowly, because of the difficulty, tedium, or unpleasantness involved: long years of study.

reaching well into the past: a long memory.

the longer of two or the longest of several: the long way home; a brick with the long side exposed.

10.

taking a long time; slow: He's certainly long getting here.

11.

forward-looking or considering all aspects; broad: to take a long view of life.

12.

intense, thorough, or critical; seriously appraising: a long look at one's past mistakes.

13.

having an ample supply or endowment of something (often followed by on): to be long on advice; to be long on brains.

14.

having a considerable time to run, as a promissory note.

15.

Chiefly Law. distant or remote in time: a long date.

16.

extending relatively far: a man with a long reach.

17.

being higher or taller than usual: long casement windows.

18.

being against great odds; unlikely: a long chance.

19.

(of beverages) mixed or diluted with a large amount of soda, seltzer, etc.: highballs, collinses, and other long drinks.

20.

(of the head or skull) of more than ordinary length from front to back.

21.

Phonetics.

lasting a relatively long time: “Feed” has a longer sound than “feet” or “fit.”

belonging to a class of sounds considered as usually longer in duration than another class, as the vowel of bought as compared to that of but, and in many languages serving as a distinctive feature of phonemes, as the ah in German Bahn in contrast with the a in Bann, or the tt in Italian fatto in contrast with the t in fato (opposed to short).

having the sound of the English vowels in mate, meet, mite, mote, moot, and mute, historically descended from vowels that were long in duration.

22.

Prosody. (of a syllable in quantitative verse) lasting a longer time than a short syllable.

23.

Finance. holding or accumulating stocks, futures, commodities, etc., with the expectation of a rise in prices: a long position in chemicals.

24.

Gambling.

marked by a large difference in the numbers of the given betting ratio or in the amounts wagered: long odds.

of or pertaining to the larger amount bet.

25.

Ceramics. (of clay) very plastic; fat.

COLLAPSE

noun

26.

a comparatively long time: They haven't been gone for long. will it take long?

27.

something that is long: The signal was two longs and a short.

28.

a size of garment for men who are taller than average.

29.

a garment, as a suit or overcoat, in this size: The shorts and the longs are hung separately.

30.

Finance. a person who accumulates or holds stocks or commodities with the expectation of a rise in prices.

EXPAND

31.

Music. longa.

COLLAPSE

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Long is always a great word to know.

So is callithumpian. Does it mean:

a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

adverb

32.

for or through a great extent of space or, especially, time: a reform long advocated.

33.

for or throughout a specified extent, especially of time: How long did he stay?

34.

(used elliptically in referring to the length of an absence, delay, etc.): Will she be long?

35.

throughout a specified period of time (usually used to emphasize a preceding noun): It's been muggy all summer long.

36.

at a point of time far distant from the time indicated: long before.

Idioms

37.

as long as,

provided that: As long as you can come by six, I'll be here.

seeing that; since: As long as you're going to the grocery anyway, buy me a pint of ice cream.

Also, so long as. during the time that; through the period that: As long as we were neighbors, they never invited us inside their house.

38.

before long, soon: We should have news of her whereabouts before long.

39.

the long and the short of, the point or gist of; substance of: The long and the short of it is that they will be forced to sell all their holdings. Also, the long and short of.

Origin:
before 900; (adj.) Middle English longe, Old English lang, long; cognate with Dutch, German lang, Old Norse langr, Gothic langs, Latin longus; (noun) late Middle English, derivative of the adj.; (adv.) Middle English long(e), lange, Old English longe, lange, cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German lango

Related forms

long·ly, adverb

long·ness, noun

Synonyms
1. lengthy, extensive. 2. protracted, prolonged, extended. 6. overlong, wordy, prolix; tedious, boring.

Example Sentences

Our approach to holiday leftovers could help us eat better all year long.

Also, silk long johns are a good bet if it's really cold.

Crankishness aside, technocracy and autocracy have long been natural bedfellows.

EXPAND

Our approach to holiday leftovers could help us eat better all year long.

Also, silk long johns are a good bet if it's really cold.

Crankishness aside, technocracy and autocracy have long been natural bedfellows.

Giant marine reptiles called plesiosaurs used their long necks to hunt for food on the seabed, newly found fossils suggest.

Genes control to a great extent how long an organism can live.

Not long ago, publishing and other media businesses mostly aimed to sell blockbusters.

Indeterminate tomatoes flower and fruit over a long season, and plants keep growing larger until cool weather shuts them down.

Most people think there is no chance for a long distance relationship to work.

In the last few years, the list of corruption convictions is depressingly long.

Ultrasound has, of course, long been used in medical imaging.

Giraffes are the world's tallest mammals, thanks to their towering legs and long necks.

Most stories recounting famed fossil discoveries include tales of long hours spent painstakingly searching through dirt and dust.

America's first permanent colonists have long been considered lazy and incompetent.

Frequent heavy waterings will help leach out salts and carry them to lower soil levels-as long as drainage is good.

Track coaches have long claimed that the best sprinters are born, not made.

The ageless search for the secrets to long life has inspired recent studies that overturn myths and offer promising clues.

The only way for them to have gotten back together after that long hiatus was direct physical contact.

Prominent structures such as long necks could well have been used in mating displays of dinosaurs.

The last block on a long wall, called the closure block, is a bit tricky to install.

In order for you to live long and prosper, your cells may need to die while they're still healthy.

Actinium's long half-life, he adds, should make it effective against large tumors and easy to distribute widely.

The man picked up a piece of reddish brown stone about three inches long that he-or she, no one knows-had polished.

Low, clumping or spreading plants grown for colorful daisies over long bloom season.

In older red wines the tannin reactions have proceeded long enough to reduce astringency.

They want to find artifacts that tell stories about what happened on that land a long time ago, and they're striking pay dirt.

Long used in the perfume and soap industries, lavandins are vigorous, fragrant plants.

Scholars have long recognized the emergence of agriculture as a turning point in the history of humankind.

Idé bangs on the windshield with a long stick to direct the driver: left, right, right again.

Tree peonies usually start out as grafts on herbaceous peony roots, but in the long run they do best on their own roots.

Easy-care succulents have long been considered the boring last resort of brown-thumb gardeners.

Because of the long list of homemade pies, all available daily.

Some persist in the soil for long periods, injuring later plantings.

But unlike the other slugs, they mate while suspended from a long thread of slime.

They may need to bend somewhat and accept some restrictions, as long as the public's right to continual access is preserved.

The idea that a person's genes or hormones could lead to criminal behavior has long been out of favor and provokes.

The dinosaurs have long been identified by the bony plates on their backs, the spikes on their tales, short.

Neutrinos have long perplexed physicists with their uncanny ability to evade detection, with as many as two-thirds of the.

Long maligned as nasty scavengers, hyenas turn out to be protective parents and accomplished hunters.

On a long wall, set the blocks at each end, then attach mason's line to a corner block at each end and pull it taut.

Their wings, he said, represent a compromise between a long narrow shape for gliding and a wide wing for heavy lifting.

The ivory-billed woodpecker, a majestic bird long thought to be extinct and long pursued by.

As long as mountaintop removal mining continues coal cannot be clean, even if the pollution from burning it can be minimized.

Collectors have long prized mollusks for their beautiful exteriors, but for scientists, it's what inside that matters.

Long clusters of light yellow, fluffy flowers appear in late fall or winter.

Australia has long called higher education one of its top exports.

Ancestral forms of play and laughter existed in other animals long before humans.

Psychologists have long known that many people are prejudiced towards others based on group affiliations, be.

Some are ingenious, some long overdue, and some a bit strange.

Plants are not fussy about soil as long as it is well drained.

High levels of fats in the snakes' blood balloons their organs after breaking a long fast, experiments show.

There is almost no reliable evidence that a warmer earth is actually worse for humanity in the long term.

The presence of the rooster's wattle has long been a puzzle because it seems to serve no purpose.

Such feats of navigation have long baffled students of animal behavior.

The double kinds can look messy, because they hold faded blooms for a long time.

If the millions of women who haul water long distances had a faucet by their door, whole societies could be transformed.

Surfing currents allows crocodiles to travel long distances.

Researchers have long wondered whether migratory birds return to their birthplace to breed.

Scientists have unearthed the remains of an ancient crocodile that was as long as a city bus and as heavy as a small whale.

Long considered fixed founts of molten material from deep within the planet, hot spots now join the list of moving parts.

Changes are on the way that should ease the grim gauntlet of long lines, security checks and cramped seats.

Flowers age to tannish gold, remain attractive for a long time.

Inspiration often seems to pop up unpredictably-in the shower, on a long walk or even at the grocery store.

One winter evening long ago, my mom's oven gave out an oily whoosh and started spitting flames.

Valued for a profuse show of color over long season.

New data is undermining the evidence that has long been proposed to support the eager males-choosy.

It is more than two miles long and about one and a half miles wide.

To grow these plants as shrubs, shorten any shoots that become too long.

Scientists have long thought that delayed gratification requires a sense of self, but experiments with dogs show otherwise.

But there is in fact a small group of hard-core kudzu enthusiasts who have long believed in kudzu's good points.

My husband favored me with a sigh suggesting that the family had long noted my derangement.

But there was something else, something visible from a long way off, that identified him.

There is no size fits all answer on how long the hiring process can take.

Your kids can only bob in the water for so long before the chlorine turns their hair a luminescent green.

Transcribing print and recorded music for the blind is a long and tedious process.

When making long exposures, use a remote release to avoid camera movement.

Tofu holds up beautifully on the grill as long as you use the firm nigari kind.

They have a long muzzle and sharp fangs designed to inflict deadly injury.

The long workbench and shelving in this garage are made from sections of a yellow pine bowling-alley lane.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used without object)

to have an earnest or strong desire or craving; yearn: to long for spring; to long to return home.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English longen, Old English langian grow longer, yearn after, summon; see long¹

Synonyms
See yearn.

verb (used without object)

Archaic. to be suitable or fitting.

Obsolete. to be the possession; belong.

Origin:
1150–1200; Middle English longen to be suitable or proper, belong, derivative of long on account (of), attributable (to), dependent (on), Old English gelang belonging (to), dependent (on); see along

noun

Crawford Wil·liam·son

[wil-yuh

m-suh

n] , 1815–78, U.S. surgeon.

Hu·ey Pierce

[hyoo-ee] , 1893–1935, U.S. politician: governor of Louisiana 1928–31; U.S. senator 1931–35.

Russell B(il·liu) [bil-yoo] , 1918–2003, U.S. lawyer and politician: U.S. senator 1948–87 (son of Huey Long).

Stephen Harriman, 1784–1864, U.S. army officer and explorer.

longitude.

Link To long

Collins

World English Dictionary

long¹ (lɒŋ)

—*adj*
1.	having relatively great extent in space on a horizontal plane
2.	having relatively great duration in time
3.	a. (postpositive) of a specified number of units in extent or duration: three hours long
	b. (in combination): a two-foot-long line
4.	having or consisting of a relatively large number of items or parts: a long list
5.	having greater than the average or expected range: a long memory
6.	being the longer or longest of alternatives: the long way to the bank
7.	having more than the average or usual quantity, extent, or duration: a long match
8.	seeming to occupy a greater time than is really so: she spent a long afternoon waiting in the departure lounge
9.	intense or thorough (esp in the phrase a long look)
10.	(of drinks) containing a large quantity of nonalcoholic beverage
11.	(of a garment) reaching to the wearer's ankles
12.	informal (foll by on) plentifully supplied or endowed (with): long on good ideas
13.	of a speech sound, esp a vowel phonetics
	a. of relatively considerable duration
	b. classified as long, as distinguished from the quality of other vowels
	c. (in popular usage) denoting the qualities of the five English vowels in such words as mate, mete, mite, moat, moot, and mute
14.	from end to end; lengthwise
15.	unlikely to win, happen, succeed, etc: a long chance
16.	prosody
	a. denoting a vowel of relatively great duration or (esp in classical verse) followed by more than one consonant
	b. denoting a syllable containing such a vowel
	c. (in verse that is not quantitative) carrying the emphasis or ictus
17.	finance having or characterized by large holdings of securities or commodities in anticipation of rising prices: a long position
18.	cricket (of a fielding position) near the boundary: long leg
19.	informal (of people) tall and slender
20.	in the long run See run
21.	informal long in the tooth old or ageing

—*adv*
22.	for a certain time or period: how long will it last?
23.	for or during an extensive period of time: long into the next year
24.	at a distant time; quite a bit of time: long before I met you; long ago
25.	finance into a position with more security or commodity holdings than are required by sale contracts and therefore dependent on rising prices for profit: to go long
26.	as long as, so long as
	a. for or during just the length of time that
	b. inasmuch as; since
	c. provided that; if
27.	no longer not any more; formerly but not now

—n
28.	a long time (esp in the phrase for long)
29.	a relatively long thing, such as a signal in Morse code
30.	a clothing size for tall people, esp in trousers
31.	phonetics a long vowel or syllable
32.	finance a person with large holdings of a security or commodity in expectation of a rise in its price; bull
33.	music a note common in medieval music but now obsolete, having the time value of two breves
34.	before long soon
35.	the long and the short of it the essential points or facts

[Old English lang; related to Old High German lang, Old Norse langr, Latin longus]

long² (lɒŋ)

—vb
	(intr; foll by for or an infinitive) to have a strong desire

[Old English langian; related to long¹]

long³ (lɒŋ)

—vb
	archaic (intr) to belong, appertain, or be appropriate

[Old English langian to belong, from gelang at hand, belonging to; compare along]

Long¹ (lɒŋ)

—n
	Crawford Williamson. 1815--78, US surgeon. He was the first to use ether as an anaesthetic

long⁴

—*abbreviation for*
	longitude

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

long

O.E. lang, long, from P.Gmc. *langgaz (cf. O.H.G., Ger. lang, O.N. langr, M.Du. lanc, Goth. laggs "long"), perhaps from PIE *dlonghos- (cf. L. longus, O.Pers. darga-, Pers. dirang, Skt. dirghah, Gk. dolikhos "long," Gk. endelekhes "perpetual," L. indulgere "to indulge"). The adv. is from O.E. lange,

EXPAND

longe, from the adjective. The word illustrates the O.E. tendency for short "a" to become short "o" before -n- (also retained in bond/band and W. Midlands dial. lond from land and hond from hand). Long vowels (c.1000) originally were pronounced for an extended time. Long-playing (phonograph record) is from 1929; abbreviation LP is from 1948. Long-distance in ref. to telephoning is from 1884. Long in the tooth (1852) is from horses showing age by recession of gums. Long run "ultimate outcome" is attested from 1627. Long time no see, imitative of Amer.Indian speech, is first recorded 1900.

long

O.E. langian "to yearn, to seem long," lit. "to grow long," from P.Gmc. *langojanan (see long (adj.)). Related to O.N. langa, M.Du. langhen, O.H.G. langen, Ger. verlangen "to desire." Related: Longing, longingly.

COLLAPSE

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

Long (lông), Crawford Williamson. 1815-1878.

American surgeon and pioneer anesthetist who was among the first (1842) to use ether as an anesthetic.

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

long

In addition to the idioms beginning with long, also see as long as; at (long) last; before long; come a long way; (long) drawn out; go a long way toward; happy as the day is long; in the long run; make a long story short; so long. Also see under longer.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia

long

(Chinese: "dragon"), in Chinese mythology, a type of majestic beast that dwells in rivers, lakes, and oceans and roams the skies. Originally a rain divinity, the Chinese dragon, unlike its malevolent European counterpart (see dragon), is associated with heavenly beneficence and fecundity. Rain rituals as early as the 6th century BC involved a dragon image animated by a procession of dancers; similar dances are still practiced in traditional Chinese communities to secure good fortune.

Learn more about long with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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