4 ADJ [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.
5 ADJ [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.
6 ADJ [usu ADJ n] If someone has a long memory, they are able to remember things that happened far back in the past.
7 ADV [n ADV ] 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. [EMPHASIS ] □ We played that record all night long. □ Snow is sometimes found all summer long upon the highest peaks.
➋ long ◆◆◆ /lɒ ŋ, [AM ] lɔː ŋ/ (longer /lɒ ŋgə r , [AM ] lɔː ŋgər/, longest /lɒ ŋg I st, [AM ] lɔː ŋg I st/)
1 ADJ 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. □ Her hair was long and dark.
2 ADJ [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.
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.
4 ADJ [as ADJ as ] 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 Long is also a combining form. □ …a three-foot-long gash in the tanker's side.
➌ long ◆◆◆ /lɒ ŋ, [AM ] lɔː ŋ/ (longer /lɒ ŋgə r , [AM ] lɔː ŋgər/)
→ Please look at categories 7 to 16 to see if the expression you are looking for is shown under another headword.
1 PHRASE 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. □ I eat as much as I want, so long as it is healthy.
2 PHRASE 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.' □ If every tune from Radiohead is as good as this one is, it can't be long before they are household names.
3 PHRASE 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 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. □ I noticed that he wasn't sitting by the door any longer.
5 CONVENTION You can say so long as an informal way of saying goodbye. [FORMULAE ] □ Well, so long, pal, see you around.
6 a long face → see face ➊
7 at long last → see last
8 in the long run → see run
9 a long shot → see shot
10 in the long term → see term
11 long in the tooth → see tooth
12 to take the long view → see view
13 to go a long way → see way
➍ long /lɒ ŋ, [AM ] lɔː ŋ/ (longs , longing , longed )
1 VERB If you long for something, you want it very much. □ [V + for ] Steve longed for the good old days. □ [V to-inf] I'm longing to meet her. □ [V + for ] He longed for the winter to be over.
2 → see also longing SYNONYMS long ADJ ➊1
prolonged: …a prolonged drought.
lengthy: …a lengthy meeting.
protracted: …a protracted civil war. VERB ➍1
desire: She had remarried and desired a child with her new husband.
crave: You may be craving some fresh air.
covet: She coveted his job so openly that conversations between them were tense.
hanker: I hankered after a floor-length brown suede coat.
lo ng-awai ted ADJ [ADJ n] A long-awaited event or thing is one that someone has been waiting for for a long time. □ …the long-awaited signing of a peace agreement.