| Long 1. (superl.) Drawn out in a line, or in the direction of length; protracted; extended; as, a long line; -- opposed to short, and distinguished from broad or wide. 2. (superl.) Drawn out or extended in time; continued through a considerable tine, or to a great length; as, a long series of events; a long debate; a long drama; a long history; a long book. 3. (superl.) Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration; lingering; as, long hours of watching. 4. (superl.) Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away. 5. (superl.) Extended to any specified measure; of a specified length; as, a span long; a yard long; a mile long, that is, extended to the measure of a mile, etc. 6. (superl.) Far-reaching; extensive. 7. (superl.) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in utterance; -- said of vowels and syllables. See Short, a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, // 22, 30. 8. (n.) A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve. 9. (n.) A long sound, syllable, or vowel. 10. (n.) The longest dimension; the greatest extent; -- in the phrase, the long and the short of it, that is, the sum and substance of it. 11. (adv.) To a great extent in apace; as, a long drawn out line. 12. (adv.) To a great extent in time; during a long time. 13. (adv.) At a point of duration far distant, either prior or posterior; as, not long before; not long after; long before the foundation of Rome; long after the Conquest. 14. (adv.) Through the whole extent or duration. 15. (adv.) Through an extent of time, more or less; -- only in question; as, how long will you be gone? 16. (prep.) By means of; by the fault of; because of. 17. (v.) To feel a strong or morbid desire or craving; to wish for something with eagerness; -- followed by an infinitive, or by after or for. 18. (v.) To belong; -- used with to, unto, or for. Thesaurus Entries a mile long, ache, ache for, ache to, aeon, age, ages, aim, and night, aspire, be dying for, be dying to, be hurting for, big, blue moon, bull, bull account, burn to, century, choose to, clamor for, colossal, covet, crave, cry for, day after day, de longue haleine, dearly love to, desire, diffuse, diffusive, dragging, drawn-out, dream, dream of, elongate, elongated, endless, enduringly, eternity, extended, extensive, fancy, far-flung, far-reaching, fargoing, filled out, flatulent, for an age, for life, for long, gangling, gangly, gape for, giant, gigantic, great, hanker, hone for, hope for, hour after hour, hunger, interminable, interminably, itch, itch for, itch to, languish for, languishing, lank, lanky, large, lasting, leggy, lengthened, lengthy, like to, lingering, long account, long ago, long for, long interest, long side, long since, long time, long to, long while, long-continuing, long-drawn, long-drawn-out, long-legged, long-pending, long-spun, long-winded, longiloquent, longish, longs, longsome, love to, lust, lust for, marathon, miss, month after month, month of Sundays, morning, no end of, noon, out, outstretched, overlong, padded, pant for, persistently, pine, pine for, prolix, prolonged, protracted, protractedly, rangy, right smart spell, sesquipedal, sesquipedalian, sigh, sigh for, since time began, spoil for, spun-out, statuesque, stretched-out, sustained, talkative, tall, the livelong day, thirst, thirst for, till doomsday, time immemorial, undyingly, unendingly, unrelenting, verbose, want, want to, weary for, windy, wish, wish for, wish to, without end, wordy, year after year, yearn, yearn for, years, years on end, yen, yen for |