long1
/lɒŋ
/adjective (longer /ˈlɒŋɡə/, longest /ˈlɒŋɡɪst/)
1Measuring a great distance from end to end: a long corridor long black hair the queue for tickets was long...
- She is described as white, about 25, of medium build, with long straight brown hair.
- After a couple of lefts and a right she found herself in a long, straight corridor.
- She has long straight blonde hair, which she usually wears in a ponytail.
Synonyms
lengthy, of considerable length, extended, prolonged, extensive, stretched out, spread out;
long-lasting, lasting
1.1(After a measurement and in questions) measuring a specified distance from end to end: a boat 150 feet long...
- How long is your garden?
- It came in a box about three feet long and two feet wide.
- The structure, constructed entirely of reinforced concrete, is 200 metres long.
Synonyms
in length, lengthways, lengthwise
1.2(Of a journey) covering a great distance: I went for a long walk...
- Anyone who misses the bus for the return journey must make the long walk home.
- Often his journeys involve long treks through remote regions, giving him time to look and think.
- The pilgrims had an extra long journey due to the extra security at the Airport.
1.3(Of a ball in sport) travelling a great distance, or further than expected or intended: he tried to head a long ball back to the keeper...
- One long Aberdeen ball upfield 30 seconds later and Riordan was to be harshly punished.
- Henry is at his best when receiving long breakaway ball which allows him to run at defenders.
- The hilly golf terrain favored his long ball.
1.4(Of a garment or sleeves on a garment) covering the whole of a person’s legs or arms: a sweater with long sleeves he’s scarcely old enough to be in long trousers...
- In Kenya, for instance, native women prefer to see female tourists in long skirts and sleeves.
- Her scathing glance slid over me, taking in the baggy shirt and long skirt.
- Though it was a good 75 degrees out he was wearing pants and a long sleeve shirt.
1.5Of elongated shape: shaped like a torpedo, long and thin...
- Then they transfer the dye colours to it and roll out the substance into a long and thin shape.
- It was a room of narrow but long shape, with two glassless windows with wooden shutters.
- The walls were covered in sponges and a few anemones but the beauty of the cave lay in its long, narrow shape.
2Lasting or taking a great amount of time: a long and distinguished career she took a long time to dress...
- Colleagues today paid tribute to their engine driver, who had made many friends during his long career.
- The author had a long career in journalism and his final post was that of executive editor of the European.
- Health problems need to be attended to and resolved or they can linger for a long time.
Synonyms
prolonged, protracted, lengthy, overlong, extended, long-drawn-out, drawn-out, spun-out, dragged-out, seemingly endless, lingering, interminable;
tedious, boring, wearisome
2.1(After a noun of duration and in questions) lasting or taking a specified amount of time: a week-long course the debates will be 90 minutes long...
- The question was asked how long would it take to recoup the cost of parking meters when few people were using some of the places.
- My only question now is how long will I have to wait before house prices return to sensible levels again?
- The only question in her mind, was how long would it take for everything to work out?
2.2 [attributive] Seeming to last more time than is the case; lengthy: serving long hours on the committee...
- He candidly admits in the book he spent months on the couch and long hours with a marriage counsellor.
- Trapped in the house together during the long curfew hours, Marie spent her days making marmalade.
- She doesn't have a job and isn't allowed to go out, so she fills the long hours every day by teaching her kids how to swear.
2.3(Of a person’s memory) retaining things for a great amount of time.I'm a historian with a long memory and a sentimental attachment to my past....
- Although he affects a gentle demeanour, O'Leary has a long memory and his opinions can be acidic.
- The Parisian spectators have long memories and they do not like a bad loser.
3Relatively great in extent: write a long report a long list of candidates...
- Don't be put off by the long list of ingredients: it is really easy to make.
- Despite a long list of honorary titles she has remained far from grand.
- I made a long list of promises to God of how good I'd be in future if only we could get this sorted out.
3.1(After a noun of extent and in questions) having a specified extent: the statement was three pages long...
- How long is the book?
- The script, he says, is approximately 800-1000 pages long, the equivalent to eight to ten hours of dialogue.
- I've got a list of things about five sheets long to work on.
4 Phonetics (Of a vowel) categorized as long with regard to quality and length (e.g. in standard British English the vowel uː in food is long as distinct from the short vowel ʊ in good).The big problem with long vowels is that there is more than one way to spell the same sound....
- French long vowels always occur on stressed syllables.
- In French, Italian, and Scottish English long vowels occur in a narrow range of positions and in general do not affect meaning.
4.1 Prosody (Of a vowel or syllable) having the greater of the two recognized durations.Vocal delivery feels like a poetry reading, spoken as much as sung, but with long drawn syllables....
- A trochee is a metrical foot of two syllables, the first long and the second short.
- Let's assume that long syllables take just twice as long to say as short ones.
5(Of odds or a chance) reflecting or representing a low level of probability: winning against long odds...
- Today is merely the start of a difficult but worthy process undertaken against long odds.
- Despite the long odds, she's hoping someone in the unemployment lines will take up the challenge.
- There was an element of ill luck, but every so often, as gamblers would tell us, long odds do come off.
6 Finance (Of shares, bonds, or other assets) bought in advance, with the expectation of a rise in price.After all, back in the seventies, the long bond yield was up in the mid teens....
- For this reason, their value is often calculated by making reference to the long bond yield.
- Provided that restricted shares can be bought at a deep discount to market, it would make much sense for the group holding long shares to try and convert those shares into a far greater number of restricted shares.
6.1(Of a broker or their position in the market) buying or based on long stocks.This is so because the central bank is on the long side of the bond market most of the time....
- When markets turn vulnerable, the enterprising speculator may this time decide to reverse his long position and go short.
- Traders are well advised to enter into a long position and place a protective stop below the latest low in the market.
6.2(Of a security) maturing at a distant date.Long securities are such a good substitute for cash....
- Issuers who are unwilling to pay the price to sell these long securities can instead sell shorter maturities.
7(Of a drink) large and refreshing, and in which alcohol, if present, is not concentrated.Sip it, with ice and a dash of lemon, or make it into a refreshing long drink with sparkling water....
- When I got home I poured myself a long lemonade.
- He suggests serving them in long summer drinks and Martinis, or in chilled soup such as gazpacho
8 (long on) informal Well supplied with: an industry that’s long on ideas but short on cash...
- They are long on opinions, but short on evidence.
- He is long on promises, but short on accomplishments.
- Both movies are extremely long on mystery and innuendo.
noun
1 [mass noun] A long period: see you before long it will not be for long...
- He insisted that he had problems adapting to society after spending so long behind bars.
- A family business cannot survive for long without a family to run as well as own it.
- Then discuss it, but not for long, because this is a technique actors use to delay standing up and doing it.
Synonyms
soon, shortly, presently, in the near future, in a short time, in a little while, in a minute, in a moment;
in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, in (less than) no time, in no time (at all), before you know it, any minute (now);
by and by
informal in a jiffy, in two shakes, in two shakes of a lamb's tail, before you can say Jack Robinson
archaic or informal anon
archaic ere long
2A long sound such as a long signal in Morse code or a long vowel or syllable: two longs and a short...
- He blew two longs, a short and a long on the steam whistle as the train inched toward its top speed of 20 miles an hour.
- SOS is three longs, followed by three shorts, and another three longs.
3 (longs) Finance Long-dated securities, especially gilts.If the dollar rises, gold will face pressure and may need to shake out more of the weaker longs before resuming its rise....
- At this level we will accumulate dollar longs and warn buyers of gold stocks to watch out for a renewed decline if the dollar's seasonal pattern holds true.
- In a weekly uptrend, continue adding to longs whenever the force index turns negative; continually add to shorts in downtrends whenever the force index turns positive.
3.1Assets held in a long position.The risk of the longs is that the price will fall....
- What this tells us is that the funds had begun to not only eliminate longs but were in the process of actually building a short position since the technical indicators had all flipped negative.
- Looking at the pattern of returns emerging from the whole portfolio - mixing up longs and shorts and any currency overlays - does not give enough information.
adverb (longer /ˈlɒŋɡə/, longest /ˈlɒŋɡɪst/)
1For a long time: we hadn’t known them long an experience they will long remember his long-awaited Grand Prix debut...
- I will think long and hard before I give my number out again.
- On Booker shortlists, the preponderance of some subjects over others has long been a source of comment.
- They had long been sought by police in connection with a series of violent motorcycle thefts.
1.1In questions about a period of time: how long have you been working?...
- Questions ranged from how long the baby had been on mother's milk to how often the baby fell sick.
- A key question is how long it will take for new policies to take effect.
- How long he can remain on the fence is a question for an uncertain future.
1.2At a time distant from a specified event or time: the work was compiled long after his death...
- We lost faith in pensions long ago.
- The men long ago stopped wearing tribal costumes.
- It's a particularly unfashionable old hat that ought to have gone to the charity shop long ago.
1.3 [comparative, with negative] After an implied point of time: he couldn’t wait any longer...
- Her father was a very important man in the city and he could not stay any longer no matter what his daughter wished.
- They will not keep you any longer than necessary.
- We won't wait any longer for this country's children have health care and a quality education.
1.4(After a noun of duration) throughout a specified period: it rained all day long...
- It's had a great spirit all season long and everybody came through for everybody else.
- The seniors told us, the new students, to do a lot of silly things all day long.
- All night long the hockey pictures gaze down at you sleeping in your tracksuit.
2(With reference to the ball in sport) at, to, or over a great distance: the Cambridge side played the ball long...
- Unfortunately we fell into that trap and started just lumping the ball long which isn't our style.
- Instead, he pulls ten men back and hoofs the ball long, to be chased or held up by a willing workhorse.
- The front two had little support other than balls knocked long to alleviate the pressure.
2.1Beyond the point aimed at; too far: he threw the ball long...
- The Belgian then began to get flustered and started spraying the balls long and wide.
- Too often Rio Ferdinand looked up and knocked it long because he didn't have an option.
- You can hit the ball harder and take a longer swing while minimizing the risk of sending the ball long.
Phrases
as (or so) long as
be long
in the long run
long ago
the long and the short of it
long in the tooth
long time no see
not long ago
so long
take the long view
Origin
Old English lang, long (adjective), lange, longe (adverb), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch and German lang.
The long referring to length and the long meaning ‘to desire’ are unrelated, though both have ancient Germanic roots. The phrase long in the tooth was first used to describe horses, and comes from the way you can estimate a horse's age by looking at its teeth: if the gums have receded and the teeth consequently look very long, you know the animal is rather old. See also gift. The background to long time no see, would nowadays probably be seen as politically incorrect. It was originally an American expression and arose in the early 20th century as a supposedly humorous imitation of the broken English spoken by a Native American. This dubious past is long forgotten and the phrase is now freely used on both sides of the Atlantic. See also arm
Rhymes
long2
/lɒŋ/verb [no object]
Have a strong wish or desire: she longed for a little more excitement [with infinitive]: we are longing to see the new baby...
- He ached for her and longed to show her that he loved her and that he wouldn't leave her.
- She laughs and says she has longed for the ring for a great time and wished to take it.
- She had longed so eagerly to charm, to be desired, to be wildly attractive and sought after.
Synonyms
yearn, pine, ache, wish, burn, hanker for/after, hunger, thirst, itch, pant, hope, be eager, be desperate, be consumed with desire, be unable to wait, would give one's eye teeth;
crave, need, lust after, dream of, set one's heart on, be bent on, eat one's heart out over, covet;
want, desire, set one's sights on
informal have a yen, be dying, yen
Origin
Old English langian 'grow long, prolong', also 'dwell in thought, yearn', of Germanic origin; related to Dutch langen 'present, offer' and German langen 'reach, extend'.