- Longest
- Long Long, a. [Compar. {Longer}; superl. {Longest}.] [AS.
long, lang; akin to OS, OFries., D., & G. lang, Icel. langr,
Sw. l[*a]ng, Dan. lang, Goth. laggs, L. longus. [root]125.
Cf. {Length}, {Ling} a fish, {Linger}, {Lunge}, {Purloin}.]
1. 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.
[1913 Webster]
2. 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. [1913 Webster]
3. Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration; lingering; as, long hours of watching. [1913 Webster]
4. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away. [1913 Webster]
The we may us reserve both fresh and strong Against the tournament, which is not long. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
5. Having a length of the 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. [1913 Webster]
6. Far-reaching; extensive. `` Long views.'' --Burke. [1913 Webster]
7. (Phonetics) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in utterance; -- said of vowels and syllables. See {Short}, a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 22, 30. [1913 Webster]
8. (Finance & Com.) Having a supply of stocks or goods; prepared for, or depending for a profit upon, advance in prices; as, long of cotton. Hence, the phrases: to be, or go, long of the market, to be on the long side of the market, to hold products or securities for a rise in price, esp. when bought on a margin. Contrasted to {short}. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
Note: Long is used as a prefix in a large number of compound adjectives which are mostly of obvious meaning; as, long-armed, long-beaked, long-haired, long-horned, long-necked, long-sleeved, long-tailed, long- worded, etc. [1913 Webster]
{In the long run}, in the whole course of things taken together; in the ultimate result; eventually.
{Long clam} (Zo["o]l.), the common clam ({Mya arenaria}) of the Northern United States and Canada; -- called also {soft-shell clam} and {long-neck clam}. See {Mya}.
{Long cloth}, a kind of cotton cloth of superior quality.
{Long clothes}, clothes worn by a young infant, extending below the feet.
{Long division}. (Math.) See {Division}.
{Long dozen}, one more than a dozen; thirteen.
{Long home}, the grave.
{Long measure}, {Long meter}. See under {Measure}, {Meter}.
{Long Parliament} (Eng. Hist.), the Parliament which assembled Nov. 3, 1640, and was dissolved by Cromwell, April 20, 1653.
{Long price}, the full retail price.
{Long purple} (Bot.), a plant with purple flowers, supposed to be the {Orchis mascula}. --Dr. Prior.
{Long suit} (a) (Whist), a suit of which one holds originally more than three cards. --R. A. Proctor. (b) One's most important resource or source of strength; as, as an entertainer, her voice was her long suit.
{Long tom}. (a) A pivot gun of great length and range, on the dock of a vessel. (b) A long trough for washing auriferous earth. [Western U.S.] (c) (Zo["o]l.) The long-tailed titmouse.
{Long wall} (Coal Mining), a working in which the whole seam is removed and the roof allowed to fall in, as the work progresses, except where passages are needed.
{Of long}, a long time. [Obs.] --Fairfax.
{To be long of the market}, or {To go long of the market}, {To be on the long side of the market}, etc. (Stock Exchange), to hold stock for a rise in price, or to have a contract under which one can demand stock on or before a certain day at a stipulated price; -- opposed to {short} in such phrases as, to be short of stock, to sell short, etc. [Cant] See {Short}.
{To have a long head}, to have a farseeing or sagacious mind. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
