1 long
Pronounced:
/ˈlɑ:ŋ/
Function:
adjectiveInflected forms:
lon·ger /ˈlɑ:ŋgɚ/ lon·gest /ˈlɑ:ŋgəst/ Meaning:
1 a : extending a great distance from one end to the other end : not short ▪ long hair ▪ long legs ▪ a long corridor ▪ The bridge is the longest in the world. ▪ We drove a long distance. ▪ the long/longer side of the building ▪ The pants are a little (too) long for me. [=they should be shorter in order to fit me] b : extending a specified distance : having a specified length ▪ one meter long ▪ The whale was 50 feet long. ▪ “How long was the race?” “The race was five miles long.”
2 a : lasting or continuing for a great amount of time ▪ a long pause/wait ▪ They've had a long and happy marriage. ▪ She finds it hard to sit still for long periods of time. ▪ It's a long movie. ▪ The company has a long tradition of serving its customers well. ▪ I've known them for a long time. [=many years] ▪ I haven't seen them for/in a (very) long time. = (US) I haven't seen them for the longest time. ▪ The changes took a long time to come. = The changes were long in coming. [=the changes did not happen quickly] ▪ It happened a long time ago. [=far in the past; not at all recently] ▪ The test should take an hour at the longest. [=it should not be longer than an hour] ▪ She is used to working long hours. [=she often works for many hours at a time] ▪ He has a very long memory. [=he remembers things that happened far in the past] ▪ someone with long experience in the UN [=someone who has been in the UN many years] ▪ She gave him a long look. [=she looked at him for many seconds] ▪ It's been a long day. [=a difficult day in which time seems to go by slowly] ▪ We took Friday off and went to the coast for a long weekend. [=a weekend with an extra day added to it] b : lasting or continuing for a specified amount of time ▪ The movie is three hours long. [=it lasts three hours] ▪ A day is 24 hours long. —see also daylong, monthlong, weeklong
3 a : having many pages, items, etc. ▪ a long book/essay/list ▪ The team has had a long streak of wins. b : having a specified number of pages, items, etc. ▪ The book is 300 pages long. ▪ The team's winning streak is 12 games long.
4 of clothing : covering all or most of the arms or legs ▪ a shirt with long sleeves ▪ long pants ▪ a long skirt
5 sports : going beyond the area of play ▪ His second serve was long, so he lost the point.
6 linguistics of a vowel —used to identify certain vowel sounds in English ▪ long and short vowels ▪ the long “a” in “make” ▪ the long “e” in “sweet” ▪ the long “i” in “ice” ▪ the long “u” in “use” —compare 1short 8
7 of someone's face : showing sadness ▪ Why the long face? [=you look sad; why are you sad?]
2 a : lasting or continuing for a great amount of time ▪ a long pause/wait ▪ They've had a long and happy marriage. ▪ She finds it hard to sit still for long periods of time. ▪ It's a long movie. ▪ The company has a long tradition of serving its customers well. ▪ I've known them for a long time. [=many years] ▪ I haven't seen them for/in a (very) long time. = (US) I haven't seen them for the longest time. ▪ The changes took a long time to come. = The changes were long in coming. [=the changes did not happen quickly] ▪ It happened a long time ago. [=far in the past; not at all recently] ▪ The test should take an hour at the longest. [=it should not be longer than an hour] ▪ She is used to working long hours. [=she often works for many hours at a time] ▪ He has a very long memory. [=he remembers things that happened far in the past] ▪ someone with long experience in the UN [=someone who has been in the UN many years] ▪ She gave him a long look. [=she looked at him for many seconds] ▪ It's been a long day. [=a difficult day in which time seems to go by slowly] ▪ We took Friday off and went to the coast for a long weekend. [=a weekend with an extra day added to it] b : lasting or continuing for a specified amount of time ▪ The movie is three hours long. [=it lasts three hours] ▪ A day is 24 hours long. —see also daylong, monthlong, weeklong
3 a : having many pages, items, etc. ▪ a long book/essay/list ▪ The team has had a long streak of wins. b : having a specified number of pages, items, etc. ▪ The book is 300 pages long. ▪ The team's winning streak is 12 games long.
4 of clothing : covering all or most of the arms or legs ▪ a shirt with long sleeves ▪ long pants ▪ a long skirt
5 sports : going beyond the area of play ▪ His second serve was long, so he lost the point.
6 linguistics of a vowel —used to identify certain vowel sounds in English ▪ long and short vowels ▪ the long “a” in “make” ▪ the long “e” in “sweet” ▪ the long “i” in “ice” ▪ the long “u” in “use” —compare 1short 8
7 of someone's face : showing sadness ▪ Why the long face? [=you look sad; why are you sad?]
a long way
: a great distance ▪ He grew up a long way from here. ▪ Their house is a long way (away) from here. —often used figuratively in various phrases ▪ We've done a lot of work, but we have a long way to go. [=we still have a lot of work to do] ▪ These changes will go a long way toward/towards making the system more efficient. [=these changes will do a lot to make the system more efficient] ▪ The company has really come a long way [=the company has made a lot of progress] since/from its humble beginnings. ▪ These problems go back a long way. [=these problems have existed for a long time] ▪ She and her business partner go back a long way (together). [=she and her business partner have known each other for a long time]
as long as someone's arm
informal : very long : having many pages, items, etc. ▪ I had a list of things to do that was as long as your/my arm.
at long last —see 5last
how long is a piece of string —see 1string
long in the tooth —see tooth
long on
: having or providing a good amount of (something) ▪ He was long on criticism [=he said many critical things] but short on useful advice.
long time no see
informal —used as a greeting for someone you have not seen for a long time ▪ Well hello there! Long time no see!
not by a long chalk —see 1chalk
not long for this world —see 1world
take the long view —see 1view
the long arm of the law —see 1arm