# long

Pronunciation: US say "LAWNG" /lɔŋ/; UK/AUS say "LONG" /lɒŋ/

## Adjective

1. Lasting or taking a great amount of time, or seeming to because it is tiring, dull or painful.
   - Simple: Lasting or taking a lot of time.
   - _She took a long nap on Sunday and woke up feeling refreshed._
   - _It's been a long time since we met._
2. Measuring a great distance from one end to the other, usually along a thing's greatest dimension; the opposite of short.
   - Simple: Having a great distance from one end to the other, not short.
   - _She has long legs and a short temper._
   - _We walked down a long hallway lined with old family photos._
5. Extending for or lasting the amount stated before it, whether that amount is large or small.
   - Simple: Having a certain length or time, said after a number, big or small.
   - _The bridge is nearly a mile long and took six years to build._
   - _Each video clip is just a few seconds long._
7. Distant in time, coming after a wide interval or lying far back, now mostly after not or before off.
   - Simple: Far off in time, a long way ahead or back.
   - _Payday is still long off, and the rent is due now._
   - _Her retirement is still long off._
9. Of a ball, kick, or shot, traveling a great distance, especially in sport.
   - Simple: Going a great distance through the air, as in a long pass.
   - _A long free kick found the far post._
   - _The long ball suits a tall striker._
11. Of a vowel or syllable, held for a relatively long time; in teaching English, of a vowel letter, pronounced like the name of the letter.
   - Simple: Of a vowel sound, held for a longer time. When learning to read, a long vowel sounds like the letter's name.
   - _In Latin verse, a syllable counts as long if its vowel is long or if two consonants follow it._
   - _Adding a final e turns the short i in "kit" into the long i in "kite"._
13. Of a ball, shot, missile, landing or drop, going past the intended target, line or point.
   - Simple: Going too far, past the place it was aimed at, as in 'her serve was long'.
   - _Two of her serves were long._
   - _The cross was long and drifted out of play._
15. In gambling, of odds, high, offering a large return on a small stake because the outcome is unlikely.
   - Simple: Of betting odds, paying out a lot for a small bet because the result is unlikely.
   - _At those long odds, a small bet could pay for the holiday._
   - _The odds were long, but she backed him anyway._
16. In finance, having bought and held an asset so as to profit if its price rises.
   - Simple: In finance, owning something in the hope that its price will go up.
   - _Most investors are long by default._
   - _She went long gold before the rally._
24. Of paper or a page layout, a sheet size taller than letter but shorter than legal. *(Canada, US)*
   - Simple: Of paper in the US and Canada, measuring eight and a half by thirteen inches.
   - _The form only fits on long paper._
   - _Grab a ream of long bond paper from the supply room; the forms won't fit on letter._
25. Of a man, well endowed; nearly always used after a verb and as a joke. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Of a man, having a long penis, an informal use.
   - _She giggled and told her friends that her new boyfriend was long, and she wasn't talking about his height._
   - _Not every tall man is long, she said._
26. In African-American Vernacular English, of money, abundant or plentiful. *(slang)*
   - Simple: Of money, plentiful, in slang, as in long money.
   - _They've got long money and short memories._
   - _Rent's no worry when your money is long._
27. In cricket, of a fielding position, placed deep toward the boundary rather than near the batter.
   - Simple: In cricket, of a fielding position, far from the batter, near the boundary.
   - _The captain pushed a fielder back to long off._
   - _Long leg is where the hook shot goes._

## Adverb

3. For a long time; for a great while, whether placed after the verb (it didn't take long) or before what it modifies (long thought impossible).
   - Simple: Used to mean 'for a long time'.
   - _It didn't take long to find the fault._
   - _She won't be long._
4. For a specified length of time, used with how, as, or enough.
   - Simple: For a certain amount of time, as in how long or as long as.
   - _You can keep it as long as you need._
   - _How long did it take you to drive here from Boston?_
6. Far back or far ahead in time relative to some moment or event, as in long before or long after.
   - Simple: At a time far before or after something, as in long ago, long before, or long after.
   - _The old mill had closed long before the highway was built._
   - _Her songs were still being played long after she retired._
8. For all of the time named by the preceding noun, such as day, night, or year.
   - Simple: During the whole of a time, used after words like day, night, or year.
   - _The beach town is busy all year long, not just in summer._
   - _She had been on her feet all morning long and was ready to sit down._
12. Of hitting, kicking or throwing, chiefly in sport, a great distance or far.
   - Simple: A great distance, far, as in to hit the ball long.
   - _She can hit long but not accurately._
   - _Their kicker can boot it long, sixty yards on a good day._
14. In sport, beyond the target, past the line or the hole, from an overhit shot.
   - Simple: Too far, past the place you were aiming at, as in the shot went long.
   - _He hit his approach long, and the ball rolled off the back of the green._
   - _She overhit the lob and sent it long by a yard._

## Verb

10. To yearn, or desire something strongly and often hopelessly, with for or to.
   - Simple: To want something very much, especially something far off or hard to get.
   - _He longs for the days when the house was full._
   - _We long for rain in the dry months._
20. In finance, to buy an asset in expectation of a price rise, the counterpart of short.
   - Simple: In finance, to buy something expecting its price to rise.
   - _You can long the bond and short the stock at once._
   - _The desk longs whatever the model favors._

## Noun

18. Short for longitude: a position east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degrees and usually written beside lat. — Abbreviation of longitude.
   - Simple: Short for longitude: how far east or west a place is on the globe.
   - _Write the long with a minus sign for west._
   - _The GPS log gives lat, long, and altitude._
19. In finance, a holder of a long position, an investor who owns the asset and gains if it rises, usually plural, opposed to the shorts: the longs took profits at the open.
   - Simple: In finance, a person or fund that owns an asset and wants its price to rise.
   - _The longs and the shorts fought over every tick._
   - _A patient long can wait out a bad quarter._
21. In programming, an integer type at least as wide as an int and often wider, commonly 64 bits, used for large whole numbers.
   - Simple: In programming, a whole-number type that is at least as big as a plain int, and often bigger.
   - _Multiplying two ints can overflow, so use a long._
   - _A long holds the file size without trouble._
22. In finance, a long-dated security, a bond of ten, twenty, or thirty years, usually in the plural and set against shorts: the fund moved out of shorts into longs.
   - Simple: In finance, a bond or other security that takes many years to mature.
   - _Longs fell sharply when inflation picked up._
   - _The fund sold its shorts and moved into longs._
23. In linguistics and verse, a long vowel or a long (heavy) syllable, usually in the plural and paired with shorts.
   - Simple: In language and poetry, a long sound or syllable, not a short one.
   - _Modern Latin textbooks mark the longs with a macron over the vowel._
   - _In this meter, two shorts can take the place of one long._
29. In early music notation, a note value above the breve, worth two or three breves depending on the mode.
   - Simple: In old music, a note worth two or three breves, no longer used.
   - _Scribes drew the long as a square with a tail._
   - _The piece closes on a long._

## Adjective

17. Of a person, tall rather than short. *(dated, Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: Tall, of a person, an old-fashioned use in Britain and Ireland.
   - _She was a long girl, all elbows and knees._
   - _Two long policemen stood at the door._

## Noun

28. Short for long vacation: in dated Oxbridge slang, the long summer break between one academic year and the next. *(dated)* — Clipping of long vacation (“summer vacation”).
   - Simple: Short for long vacation: the summer break at Oxford and Cambridge universities.
   - _They spent the Long walking in Switzerland._
   - _The college is empty in the long._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Tediously slow, dragging on for ages.
- (adjective) Irritating, pointless, or nonsensical.
- (adjective) Grave and dangerous, possibly fatal.
- (adjective) Owing to, as a result of, usually in the phrase 'long of'.
- (verb) To be fitting for, connected with, part of, or the property of.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15–17, 19–29** — Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰos ("long") developed through Proto-Germanic *langaz into Old English long or lang ("long, tall, lasting"), which Middle English kept as long or lang. German and Dutch lang, Latin longus and Italian lungo are related, and Old French long may have helped strengthen the form with o.
**Meanings 3–4, 6, 8, 12, 14** — This adverb was made from the adjective ("long") in Old English, where it appeared as longe or lange, and Middle English kept those forms.
**Meaning 10** — Old English langian covered yearning, grieving and growing longer, and it became Middle English longen. Its Proto-Germanic ancestor *langōną meant "to desire". German verlangen and Icelandic langa, both about wanting, are related.
**Meaning 18** — A shortening of longitude.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/long (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).