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LONG
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Having or being more than normal or necessary
Example:
in long supply
Classified under:
Similar:
abundant (present in great quantity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Primarily spatial sense; of relatively great or greater than average spatial extension or extension as specified
Example:
ten miles long
Classified under:
Similar:
stretch (having an elongated seating area)
polysyllabic; sesquipedalian ((of words) long and ponderous; having many syllables)
oblong (deviating from a square or circle or sphere by being elongated in one direction)
long-wool; long-wooled ((of sheep) having relatively long wool)
long-staple (having relatively long fibers)
long-snouted (having a snout that is longer than average)
long-range (suitable for or reaching long distances)
long-handled; pole-handled (having a long handle)
lank (long and thin and often limp)
far (being of a considerable distance or length)
extendable; extendible (capable of being lengthened)
elongated; extended; lengthened; prolonged (drawn out or made longer spatially)
elongate; elongated (having notably more length than width; being long and slender)
Attribute:
length (the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place)
Antonym:
short ((primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length)
Derivation:
longness (the property of being of long spatial extent)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
Example:
an hour long
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
longish (somewhat long)
long-life ((of perishable goods) treated to stay fresh longer than usual)
longitudinal (over an extended time)
long-range (involving an extended span of time)
long-run; long-term; semipermanent (relating to or extending over a relatively long time)
long-standing; longstanding (having existed for a long time)
monthlong (last through a month)
all-night; nightlong; overnight (lasting, open, or operating through the whole night)
perennial (lasting an indefinitely long time; suggesting self-renewal)
time-consuming (of a task that takes time and patience)
seven-day; weeklong (lasting through a week)
yearlong (lasting through a year)
agelong (lasting through all time)
bimestrial (two months long; lasting two months)
chronic; continuing (of long duration)
daylong (lasting through an entire day)
drawn-out; extended; lengthy; prolonged; protracted (relatively long in duration; tediously protracted)
durable; lasting; long-lasting; long-lived (existing for a long time)
eight-day (lasting for eight days)
endless; eternal; interminable (tiresomely long; seemingly without end)
hourlong (lasting for an hour)
lifelong; womb-to-tomb (continuing through life)
long-acting (active over a long period of time)
long-dated (of a gilt-edged security; having more than 15 years to run before redemption)
Attribute:
duration; length (continuance in time)
Antonym:
short (primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration)
Derivation:
longness (duration as an extension)
Sense 4
Meaning:
(of speech sounds or syllables) of relatively long duration
Example:
the English vowel sounds in 'bate', 'beat', 'bite', 'boat', 'boot' are long
Classified under:
Adjectives
Domain category:
phonetics (the branch of acoustics concerned with speech processes including its production and perception and acoustic analysis)
Antonym:
short (of speech sounds or syllables of relatively short duration)
Sense 5
Meaning:
Holding securities or commodities in expectation of a rise in prices
Example:
a long position in gold
Classified under:
Adjectives
Domain category:
finance (the branch of economics that studies the management of money and other assets)
Antonym:
short (not holding securities or commodities that one sells in expectation of a fall in prices)
Sense 6
Meaning:
Planning prudently for the future
Example:
took a long view of the geopolitical issues
Synonyms:
farseeing; farsighted; foresighted; foresightful; long; longsighted; prospicient
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
provident (providing carefully for the future)
Sense 7
Meaning:
Good at remembering
Example:
tenacious memory
Synonyms:
long; recollective; retentive; tenacious
Classified under:
Adjectives
Also:
aware; mindful (bearing in mind; attentive to)
Sense 8
Meaning:
Involving substantial risk
Example:
long odds
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
unsound (not sound financially)
Sense 9
Meaning:
Of relatively great height
Example:
looked out the long French windows
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
tall (great in vertical dimension; high in stature)
Derivation:
longness (the property of being of long spatial extent)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they long ... he / she / it longs
Past simple: longed
Past participle: longed
-ing form: longing
Sense 1
Meaning:
Desire strongly or persistently
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms (to "long" is one way to...):
desire; want (feel or have a desire for; want strongly)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "long"):
ache; languish; pine; yearn; yen (have a desire for something or someone who is not present)
Sentence frame:
Somebody ----s PP
Sentence example:
They long to move
Derivation:
longer (a person with a strong desire for something)
longing (prolonged unfulfilled desire or need)
III. (adverb)
Sense 1
Meaning:
For an extended time or at a distant time
Example:
it is long after your bedtime
Classified under:
Sense 2
Meaning:
For an extended distance
Classified under:
Context examples:
I don’t know how that may be, said she; never is a long time.
(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)
I closed the book, which I dared no longer peruse, and put it on the table, beside the untasted tart.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
And as to my father, I really should not have thought that he, who has kept himself single so long for our sakes, need be suspected now.
(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)
What the scientists do know is that the sea monster is more than 4 meters long.
(Sea Monster Swam Oceans 170 Million Years Ago, Voanews)
Late next morning Buck led the long team up the street.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
He had not eaten for two days; for a far longer time he had not had all he wanted to eat.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
I was no longer Humphrey Van Weyden.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
They were driven by a tall man, with a long brown beard and a great black hat, which seemed to hide his face from us.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
As people grow older, it may take longer to retrieve those files.
(Memory, NIH: National Institute on Aging)
Patients overall exhibit long survival times.
(Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)
