Having great linear extent; not short; having notable or unusual extent; relatively much extended or drawn out: as, a long distance; long hair; a long arm.Having linear or continuous extent in space; measured from end to end; viewed in the direction of the greatest distance (that is, the distance exceeding that of the width, or a line drawn at right angles to the width).Tall: as, long Tom Coffin.Having duration or extent in time; lasting in continuance: following a term of measurement or reckoning, or used relatively: as, a discourse an hour long; the longest day of the year.Drawn out in duration; having unusual continuance; lasting; prolonged, as time, succession, etc.: as, long hours of labor; long illness; a long line of descendants; a long note.Specifically— In prosody, greater in duration (technically called quantity) than the unit of time, or so regarded. A long vowel, or sometimes a vowel in a long syllable, is marked as such by a straight line above it, thus, ā. In ancient orthoepy and prosody a long vowel is regarded as consisting regularly of the sum of two similar short vowels, thus, ā = ă + ă, and a diphthong is also necessarily long as the sum of two dissimilar short vowels, thus, au = ă + ŭ. In either case, if either element is already long, the excess is not counted. See the phrases long by nature and long by position, below, and II.In Eng. orthoëpy, noting one of the two or more principal pronunciations of each of the five true vowels, a, e, i, o, u, exemplified in the words fate, mete, site, note, mute, usually marked for pronunciation, as in this work, ā, ē, ī, ō, ū : opposed to the short sounds of the same letters in fat, met, sit, not, nut, frequently marked as ă ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ, but left unmarked in this work. The two sounds of the same letter now called long and short do not, for the most part, phonetically correspond to each other; but short is used specifically to note the more frequently employed of the shorter sounds of a certain letter, and long, by a similar limitation, for the more usual among the longer sounds of the same letter in our established orthography.Far-reaching; far-seeing: as, a long look ahead.Happening or occurring after a protracted interval; much delayed or postponed.Seeming prolonged; tedious; wearisome: as, long hours of waiting.The razorshell, Ensis americana.n. Something that has length; also, the full extent: used in some elliptical expressions, as in English universities for the long vacation, and in the phrase the long and the short of it.n. In prosody, a long time or syllable.n. In medieval musical notation, a note equivalent in time-value either to three or to two breves, according as the rhythm was “perfect” or “imperfect.” Its form wasTo a great extent in space; with much length: as, a line long drawn out.Far; to or at a distance, or an indicated distance.To a great extent in time; for an extended period; with prolonged duration: as, he has been long dead; it happened long ago, long before, or long afterward; a long-continued drought; a long-forgotten matter.For a length of time; for the period of: used with terms of limitation: as, how long shall you remain? as long as I can; all day long.To have a yearning or wistful desire; feel a strong wish or craving; hanker: followed by for or after before the object of desire, or by an infinitive.To long for; desire.Same as along: in the phrase long of, sometimes written ‘long of.To belong.An abbreviation of longitude.See -ling.Having a long time to run before maturing: as, a long bill; long (commercial) paper.Well-or over-supplied: as, to be long in some commodity or stock. See long of stock, under long.
