long

I [[t]lɒ̱ŋgɪst, AM lɔ͟ːŋgɪst[/t]] TIME

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longest

1) ADV-GRADED: ADV with v, oft ADV adv/prep Long means a great amount of time or for a great amount of time.

Repairs to the cable did not take too long...

Have you known her parents long?...

I learned long ago to avoid these invitations...

The railway had obviously been built long after the house...

Chess has long been regarded as a measure of intellect.

...long-established social traditions.

●

PHRASE: PHR after v The expression for long is used to mean `for a great amount of time'.

`Did you live there?' - `Not for long.'...

Developing countries won't put up with the situation for much longer...

For too long there was a huge gap in the market.

2) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n A long event or period of time lasts for a great amount of time or takes a great amount of time.

We had a long meeting with the attorney general...

She is planning a long holiday in Egypt and America...

They sat looking at each other for a long while...

He must have started writing his book a long time ago.

Ant:

short

3) ADV-GRADED: how ADV, as ADV as, ADV-compar than You use long to ask or talk about amounts of time.

How long have you lived around here?...

He has been on a diet for as long as any of his friends can remember...

She reflected no longer than a second before she decisively slit the envelope.

ADJ-GRADED: how ADJ, amount ADJ

Long is also an adjective.

How long is the usual stay in hospital?... The average commuter journey there is five hours long.

COMB in ADJ

Long is also a combining form.

She'd just returned from a month-long visit to Egypt.

4) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n A long speech, book, film, or list contains a lot of information or a lot of items and takes a lot of time to listen to, read, watch, or deal with.

He was making quite a long speech...

This is a long film, three hours and seven minutes.

Ant:

short

5) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n If you describe a period of time or work as long, you mean it lasts for more hours or days than is usual, or seems to last for more time than it actually does.

Go to sleep. I've got a long day tomorrow...

She was a TV reporter and worked long hours...

This has been the longest week of my life.

Ant:

short

6) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n If someone has a long memory, they are able to remember things that happened far back in the past.

Ant:

short

7) ADV: n ADV (emphasis) Long is used in expressions such as all year long, the whole day long, and your whole life long to say and emphasize that something happens for the whole of a particular period of time.

We played that record all night long...

Snow is sometimes found all summer long upon the highest peaks.

II [[t]lɒ̱ŋgɪst, AM lɔ͟ːŋgɪst[/t]] DISTANCE AND SIZE

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longest

1) ADJ-GRADED Something that is long measures a great distance from one end to the other.

...a long table...

A long line of people formed outside the doctor's office...

Lucy was 27, with long dark hair...

Her legs were long and thin.

Ant:

short

2) ADJ-GRADED: usu ADJ n A long distance is a great distance. A long journey or route covers a great distance.

His destination was Chobham Common, a long way from his Cotswold home...

The long journey tired him...

I went for a long walk.

Ant:

short

3) ADJ: ADJ n A long piece of clothing covers the whole of someone's legs or more of their legs than usual. Clothes with long sleeves cover the whole of someone's arms.

She is wearing a long black dress.

...a long-sleeved blouse.

Ant:

short

4) ADJ-GRADED: amount ADJ, how ADJ, as ADJ as, ADJ-compar than You use long to talk or ask about the distance something measures from one end to the other.

An eight-week-old embryo is only an inch long...

How long is the tunnel?...

In the roots of the olives, you could find centipedes as long as a pencil.

COMB in ADJ

Long is also a combining form.

...a three-foot-long gash in the tanker's side.

5) ADJ-GRADED: ADJ n If you describe a distance as long, you mean it seems to be greater than it actually is.

It was five long miles to the nearest pub.

Ant:

short

III [[t]lɒ̱ŋgə(r), AM lɔ͟ːŋgər[/t]] PHRASES

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longer

(Please look at category 7 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.)

1) PHR-CONJ-SUBORD If you say that something is the case as long as or so long as something else is the case, you mean that it is only the case if the second thing is the case.

The interior minister said he would still support them, as long as they didn't break the rules...

The president need not step down so long as the elections are held under international supervision.

2) PHRASE: oft it PHR before cl If you say that someone won't be long, you mean that you think they will arrive or be back soon. If you say that it won't be long before something happens, you mean that you think it will happen soon.

`What's happened to her?' - `I'm sure she won't be long.'...

The Health Spokesman said it wouldn't be long before those with the money would also get better nursing.

3) PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl If you say that something will happen or happened before long, you mean that it will happen or happened soon.

German interest rates will come down before long...

Before long he took over the editing of the magazine.

4) PHRASE (approval) You use long live and long may in expressions such as `long live the Queen' and `long may it continue' to express your support for someone or something and your hope that they will live or last a long time.

Long live freedom!...

It is a free world where we are all entitled to our opinions. Long may it remain so.

5) PHRASE: PHR group/cl, PHR with v Something that is no longer the case used to be the case but is not the case now. You can also say that something is not the case any longer.

Food shortages are no longer a problem...

She could no longer afford to keep him at school...

I noticed that he wasn't sitting by the door any longer.

6) CONVENTION (formulae) You can say so long as an informal way of saying goodbye.

Well, so long, pal, see you around.

Syn:

bye

7) as long as your arm → see arm

by a long chalk → see chalk

a long face → see face

at long last → see last

in the long run → see run

a long shot → see shot

in the long term → see term

long in the tooth → see tooth

to take the long view → see view

to go a long way → see way

IV [[t]lɒ̱ŋ, AM lɔ͟ːŋ[/t]] VERB USES

longs, longing, longed

VERB

If you long for something, you want it very much.

→ See also longing

[V for n] Steve longed for the good old days...

[V to-inf] I'm longing to meet her...

[V for n to-inf] He longed for the winter to be over.