Long vs. Length

Long vs. Length — Is There a Difference?
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Difference Between Long and Length

Longadjective

Having much distance from one terminating point on an object or an area to another terminating point usually applies to horizontal dimensions; see Usage Notes below.

It's a long way from the Earth to the Moon.

Lengthnoun

The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

Longadjective

Having great duration.

The pyramids of Egypt have been around for a long time.

Lengthnoun

duration

Longadjective

Seemingly lasting a lot of time, because it is boring or tedious or tiring.

Lengthnoun

(horse racing) The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.

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Longadjective

Not short; tall.

Lengthnoun

(mathematics) Distance between the two ends of a line segment.

Longadjective

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

I'm long in DuPont;I have a long position in DuPont.

Lengthnoun

(cricket) The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.

Longadjective

(cricket) Of a fielding position, close to the boundary (or closer to the boundary than the equivalent short position).

Lengthnoun

(figuratively) Total extent.

the length of a book
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Longadjective

That land beyond the baseline (and therefore is out).

No! That forehand is longnb....

Lengthnoun

Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.

a length of rope

Longadjective

Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.

Lengthverb

(obsolete) To lengthen.

Longadjective

(archaic) On account of, because of.

Lengthnoun

the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest horizontal dimension of something that is fixed in place;

the length of the table was 5 feet

Longadverb

Over a great distance in space.

He threw the ball long.

Lengthnoun

continuance in time;

the ceremony was of short durationhe complained about the length of time required

Longadverb

For a particular duration.

How long is it until the next bus arrives?

Lengthnoun

the property of being the extent of something from beginning to end;

the editor limited the length of my article to 500 words

Longadverb

For a long duration.

Will this interview take long?Paris has long been considered one of the most cultured cities in the world.

Lengthnoun

size of the gap between two places;

the distance from New York to Chicagohe determined the length of the shortest line segment joining the two points

Longnoun

(linguistics) A long vowel.

Lengthnoun

a section of something that is long and narrow;

a length of timbera length of tubing

Longnoun

(programming) 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.

Longnoun

(finance) An entity with a long position in an asset.

Every uptick made the longs cheer.

Longnoun

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

Longnoun

longitude

Longverb

To take a long position in.

Longverb

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

She longed for him to come back.

Longverb

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

Longnoun

a comparatively long time;

this won't take longthey haven't been gone long

Longverb

desire strongly or persistently

Longadjective

primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified;

a long lifea long boring speecha long timea long friendshipa long gamelong agoan hour long

Longadjective

primarily spatial sense; of relatively great or greater than average spatial extension or extension as specified;

a long roada long distancecontained many long wordsten miles long

Longadjective

of relatively great height;

a race of long gaunt menlooked out the long French windows

Longadjective

holding securities or commodities in expectation of a rise in prices;

is long on coffeea long position in gold

Longadjective

of speech sounds (especially vowels) of relatively long duration (as e.g. the English vowel sounds in `bate', `beat', `bite', `boat', `boot')

Longadjective

used of syllables that are unaccented or of relatively long duration

Longadjective

involving substantial risk;

long odds

Longadjective

(of memory) having greater than average range;

a long memory especially for insultsa tenacious memory

Longadjective

planning prudently for the future;

large goals that required farsighted policiestook a long view of the geopolitical issues

Longadjective

having or being more than normal or necessary:

long on brainsin long supply

Longadverb

for an extended time or at a distant time;

a promotion long overduesomething long hoped forhis name has long been forgottentalked all night longhow long will you be gone?arrived long before he was expectedit is long after your bedtime

Longadverb

for an extended distance