• (RP) IPA: /ˈlɒŋ/
  • (Conservative RP) IPA: /ˈlɔːŋ/
• (GA) enPR: lông, IPA: /ˈlɔŋ/
• (cot-caught, Canada) enPR: läng, IPA: /ˈlɑŋ/

long (comparative longer, superlative longest)

1. 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.

2. Having great duration.

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

3. Seemingly lasting a lot of time, because it is boring or tedious or tiring.
   • 1877, Anna Sewell, Black Beauty, Chapter 23 ↗

     What I suffered with that rein for four long months in my lady's carriage, it would be hard to describe, but I am quite sure that, had it lasted much longer, either my health or my temper would have given way.

4. (British, dialect) Not short; tall.
   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, OCLC 731476803 ↗:

     The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.

5. (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.

6. (cricket) Of a fielding position, close to the boundary (or closer to the boundary than the equivalent short position).
7. (tennis, of a ball or a shot) Landing beyond the baseline, and therefore deemed to be out.

   That forehand is long.

8. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.
   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: Printed [by Richard Field] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 932900760 ↗, book IIII, canto IIII, page 55 ↗:

     But Campbell thus did ſhut vp all in ieſt, / Braue Knights and Ladies, certes ye doe wrong / To ſtirre vp ſtrife, when moſt vs needeth reſt, / That we may vs reſerue both freſh and ſtrong, / Againſt the Turneiment which is not long.

• (having much distance from one point to another) deep (vertically downwards), extended, high (vertically upwards), lengthy, tall
• (having great duration) extended, lengthy, prolonged

• (having much distance from one point to another) low (vertically upwards), shallow (vertically upwards or downwards), short
• (having great duration) brief, short
• (finance) short

• French: long
• German: lang
• Italian: lungo
• Portuguese: longo, comprido
• Russian: дли́нный
• Spanish: largo

• French: long
• German: lang
• Italian: lungo
• Portuguese: comprido, longo
• Russian: до́лгий
• Spanish: largo, luengo

long (comparative longer, superlative longest)

1. Over a great distance in space.

   He threw the ball long.

2. For a particular duration.

   How long is it until the next bus arrives?

3. For a long duration.

   Will this interview take long?

   Paris has long been considered one of the most cultured cities in the world.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: Printed [by Richard Field] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 932900760 ↗, book VI, canto XII, stanza 17, page 512 ↗:

     My liefe (ſayd ſhe) ye know, that long ygo, / Whileſt ye in durance dwelt, ye to me gaue / A little mayde, the which ye chylded tho ; / The ſame againe if now ye liſt to haue, / The ſame is yonder Lady, whom high God did ſaue.

   • c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358 ↗, [Act I, scene iii], page 156 ↗, column 1:

     I ſtay too long ; but here my Father comes : / A double bleſſing is a double grace; / Occaſion ſmiles vpon a ſecond leaue.

• (over a great distance) a long way, far
• (for a long duration) a long time

• (over a great distance) a short distance, a short way
• (for a long duration) an instant, a minute, a moment, a second, a short time, not long

• German: weit
• Italian: distante
• Portuguese: longe
• Russian: далеко́
• Spanish: lejos, lueñe

• French: temps; (how long) combien de temps
• German: lange
• Italian: tempo; (how long) quanto tempo
• Portuguese: how long: quanto tempo
• Russian: до́лго

• French: longtemps
• German: lange
• Portuguese: por muito/bastante tempo, to take long: demorar
• Russian: до́лго

long (plural longs)

1. (linguistics) A long vowel.
2. (prosody) A long syllable.
3. (music) A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve.
4. (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.

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

   Every uptick made the longs cheer.

6. (UK, colloquial, dated) The long summer vacation at the English universities.

long (longs, present participle longing; past and past participle longed)

1. (transitive, finance) To take a long position in.

long (longs, present participle longing; past and past participle longed)

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

   She longed for him to come back.

• (desire greatly) ache, yearn

• French: aspirer à
• German: (sich) sehnen
• Italian: bramare
• Portuguese: ansiar, suspirar
• Spanish: desear, anhelar

long (not comparable)

1. (archaic) On account of, because of.
   • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.8, page 224 ↗:

     I am of opinion, that in regarde of theſe debauches and lewde actions, fathers may, in ſome ſort, be blamed, and that it is onely long of them.

long (longs, present participle longing; past and past participle longed)

1. (archaic) To be appropriate to, to pertain or belong to.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.3:

     A goodly Armour, and full rich aray, / Which long'd to Angela, the Saxon Queene, / All fretted round with gold, and goodly wel beseene.

   • circa 1591, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew, IV, 4:

     Tis well, and hold your owne in any case / With such austeritie as longeth to a father.

long (plural longs)

1. longitude

long (longs, present participle longing; past and past participle longed)

1. (obsolete) To belong.

1. Surname Originally a nickname for a tall man.