long

1. 1

   Having much distance in space from one end to the other.

   • I need a long piece of wood.
   • It’s a long way from the Earth to the Moon.
2. 2

   Having much distance in space from one end to the other.; Specifically, having much distance in a horizontal dimension (see also Usage Notes below).

   • This table is long but not very high.
3. 3

   Having much distance in space from one end to the other.; Travelling a great distance.

   • Smith hoofs a long ball up to Jones.
4. 4

   Having much distance in space from one end to the other.; Having a long penis.informal

   • My ex was very strong but not very long.
5. 5

   Travelling or extending too great a distance in space.; Passing or landing ahead of or beyond the intended target or location.usually

   • The plane touched down long and overran the end of the runway.
6. 6

   Travelling or extending too great a distance in space.; Going beyond the intended target.

   • That forehand was long. It landed two feet beyond the baseline.
   • The pass was long and was gathered by the opposing goalkeeper.
7. 7

   Having great duration.

   • His speech was long and dull.
   • The pyramids of Egypt have been around for a long time.
8. 8

   Seeming to last a lot of time, due to being boring, tedious, tiring, irksome, etc.

   • It took us three long weeks to clear the stones from the field.
   • It'll be a long journey home for the travelling supporters after that 5-0 defeat.
9. 9

   Not short; tall.IrelandUKdated

   • The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.
   • Bless ’em all, bless ’em all, the long, the short and the tall.
10. 10

    Possessing or owning stocks, bonds, commodities, or other financial instruments with the aim of benefiting from an expected rise in their value.

    • I’m long in DuPont.
    • I have a long position in DuPont.

syn. deep · extended · high · lengthy · tall · lengthful · lengthsome · long · longsome · prolix

ant. low · shallow · short · brief · wide

1. 1

   A long vowel.

   • In French most vowels are half-long, and are only occasionally lengthened or shortened into full longs and shorts.
2. 2

   A long syllable.

3. 3

   A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve.

4. 4

   A long integer variable, twice the size of an int, two or four times the size of a short, and half of a long long.

   • A long is typically 64 bits in a 32-bit environment.
5. 5

   An entity with a long position in an asset; for example, a trader or investor possessing an amount of a company's shares.

   • Every uptick made the longs cheer.
6. 6

   A long-maturity security, such as a ten- or twenty-year bond.

   • "U.S. Treasury Market Structure", https://www.mfaalts.org/issue/u-s-treasury-market-structure/ Hedge funds are constrained in how much leverage they can utilize, in part because the futures contracts they are shorting against their Treasury
7. 7

   Clipping of long vacation (“summer vacation”).abbreviationalt-ofclipping

   • “[…] Did I not forbid all these nicknames and all this Oxfordish, by proclamation, last Long.” “Last Long?” “Hem! last protracted vacation.”
8. 8

   Ellipsis of long bond paper.Philippinesabbreviationalt-of

1. 1

   To take a long position in.transitive

   • The left panel shows the profile of a portfolio consisting of longing a call and shorting a put.

1. 1

   Over a great distance in space.

   • Every golfer wants to hit the ball long and straight.
2. 2

   Over a great distance in space.; Over too great a distance, beyond the target.

   • She hit her return long and lost the point.
3. 3

   For a particular duration (specified by additional qualifying words accompanying it).

   • How long is it until the next bus arrives?
   • She has known us as long as you.
4. 4

   For a long time.adjectiveadverbparticiple

   • Paris has long been considered one of the most cultured cities in the world.
   • By eight o’clock, the food will be long gone.
5. 5

   For a long time.rare

   • It’s an earth song,— And I’ve been waiting long for an earth song. It’s a spring song,— And I’ve been waiting long for a spring song.[…] I have been waiting long for this spring song.
6. 6

   A long time (see usage notes).

   • Will this interview take long?
   • I haven’t got long to live.
7. 7

   A long time ago.

   • The place was solitary and deserted […] only the line of mouldering towers and battlements on the hill above spoke of the busy life that had long passed away.

1. 1

   To await, aspire, desire greatly (something to occur or to be true).intransitive

   • She longed for him to come back.

1. 1

   On account of, because of.archaicnot-comparable

   • I am of opinion, that in regarde of theſe debauches and lewde actions, fathers may, in ſome ſort, be blamed, and that it is onely long of them.

syn. lengthful · lengthsome · long · longsome · prolix

ant. short · wide

1. 1

   To be appropriate to, to pertain or belong to.archaic

   • A goodly Armour, and full rich aray, / Which long’d to Angela, the Saxon Queene, / All fretted round with gold, and goodly wel beseene.
   • Tis well, and hold your owne in any case / With such austeritie as longeth to a father.

1. 1

   Abbreviation of longitude.abbreviationalt-of

1. 1

   To belong.obsolete

   • Now ſend Ambaſſage to thy neighbor Kinges, And let them know the Perſian King is chang’d: From one that knew not what a King ſhould doe, To one that can commaund what longs there to: […]