long

Adjective (1)

long (comparative longer or more long, superlative longest or most long)

1. Having much distance in space from one end to the other.
   • I need a long piece of wood.
   • It’s a long way from the Earth to the Moon.
   1. Specifically, having much distance in a horizontal dimension (see also Usage Notes below).
      • This table is long but not very high.
   2. Travelling a great distance.
      • Smith hoofs a long ball up to Jones.
   3. (informal) Having a long penis.
      • My ex was very strong but not very long.
2. (usually, landing aircraft) Passing or landing ahead of or beyond the intended target or location.
   • The plane touched down long and overran the end of the runway.
   • Juneau was making good time with the other surviving U.S. Navy ships, despite her damage, when the I-26 spotted her and sent a salvo of Type 95 torpedoes in her direction. Passing between the Helena and San Francisco, some indication being they had actually been shot at the San Francisco and gone...2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 28:10 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 07 Nov 2022
3. Going beyond the intended target.
   • That forehand was long. It landed two feet beyond the baseline.
   • The pass was long and was gathered by the opposing goalkeeper.
4. Having great duration.
   • His speech was long and dull.
   • The pyramids of Egypt have been around for a long time.

   Synonyms:

   extended, lengthy, prolonged

5. Seeming to last a lot of time, due to being boring, tedious, tiring, irksome, etc.
   • It took us three long weeks to clear the stones from the field.
   • It'll be a long journey home for the travelling supporters after that 5-0 defeat.
6. (Ireland, UK, dated) Not short; tall.
   • 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.1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter I, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC
   • Bless ’em all, bless ’em all, the long, the short and the tall.1940, Fred Godfrey, “Bless 'Em All”performed by George Formby
7. Possessing or owning stocks, bonds, commodities, or other financial instruments with the aim of benefiting from an expected rise in their value.
   • I’m long in DuPont.
   • I have a long position in DuPont.

   Antonyms:

   short

8. Of a fielding position, close to the boundary (or closer to the boundary than the equivalent short position).
9. Of betting odds, offering a very large return for a small wager.
10. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.
    • 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.1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IIII, Canto IIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC, page 55
11. (Multicultural-London-English, slang, African-American Vernacular) In great supply; abundant.
    • I’m talkin’ ’bout… I’m talkin’ ’bout that long money.2011 December 18, “Ballin' Uncontrollably” (track 7), in King Mather's LP, performed by Eminem
    • Me and broke niggas, we don’t get along (Nah). Hair long (Long), money long (Yeah).2012 November 8, “I'm Different” (track 6), in Based on a T.R.U. Story, performed by 2 Chainz
12. (Multicultural-London-English, broadly, slang) stupid; annoying; bullshit
    • [Verse 1: Sleeks]: Keep thinking about Ps that I need but it’s long. All these things that I've done in the streets got me on my knees trying to reason with God. B-B beefin’ is long but I might still greeze up a Don.2015 September 18, “Brand New” (track 6), in Don't Panic, performed by Smoke Boys
    • MOBEEN: I do love nature when it’s on television and David Attenborough’s presenting. I hate nature in real life! Smells like shite around here! Plants and (he waves a fly away) …plants and that. It’s so long!2017 December 17, Guz Khan, Andy Milligan, “Upper Room” (00:38 from the start), in Ollie Parsons, director, Man Like Mobeen (1), episode 3 (TV), spoken by Mobeen Deen (Guz Khan)

Noun

long (plural longs)

1. A long vowel.
   • In French most vowels are half-long, and are only occasionally lengthened or shortened into full longs and shorts.1877, Henry Sweet, A Handbook of Phonetics, volume 2, page 60
2. A long syllable.
3. A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve.
4. 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. An entity with a long position in an asset; for example, a trader or investor possessing an amount of a company's shares.
   • Every uptick made the longs cheer.

   Synonyms:

   bull

6. A long-maturity security, such as a ten- or twenty-year bond.
   • Likewise, if borrowers prefer to sell short-maturity issues at the time lenders prefer to invest in longs, as is the case when interest rates are expected to fall, longer maturity issues will tend to yield less than shorter maturity issues.1977, Jerome B. Cohen, Edward D. Zinbarg, Arthur Zeikel, Guide to Intelligent Investing, →OCLC, page 203
   • "U.S. Treasury Market Structure", https://www.mfaalts.org/issue/u-s-treasury-market-structure/
     Hedge funds are constrained in how much leverage they can utilize, in part because the futures contracts they are shorting against their Treasury longs have significant initial margin requirements.

Verb (1)

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

1. (transitive) To take a long position in.
   • The left panel shows the profile of a portfolio consisting of longing a call and shorting a put.2004, Thomas S. Y. Ho with Sang Bin Lee and Sang-bin Yi, The Oxford Guide to Financial Modeling, page 84

Adverb

long (comparative longer, superlative longest)

1. Over a great distance in space.
   • Every golfer wants to hit the ball long and straight.

   Synonyms:

   a long way, far

   Antonyms:

   a short distance

   1. Over too great a distance, beyond the target.
      • She hit her return long and lost the point.
2. For a particular duration (specified by additional qualifying words accompanying it).
   • How long is it until the next bus arrives?
   • She has known us as long as you.
3. (adjective, adverb, participle, placed before a verb, preposition) For a long time.
   • Paris has long been considered one of the most cultured cities in the world.
   • By eight o’clock, the food will be long gone.
4. (rare, placed by itself after a positive verb) For a long time.
   • It’s an earth song,—
     And I’ve been waiting long for an earth song.
     It’s a spring song,—
     And I’ve been waiting long for a spring song.[…]
     I have been waiting long for this spring song.1925, Langston Hughes, “An Earth Song”, in Alain LeRoy Locke, editor, The New Negro: An Interpretation, New York: Albert and Charles Boni, page 142
5. A long time (see usage notes).
   • Will this interview take long?
   • I haven’t got long to live.

   Antonyms:

   an instant, a minute, a moment, a second, a short time, not long

6. (between have and a past participle) A long time ago.
   • The place was solitary and deserted […] only the line of mouldering towers and battlements on the hill above spoke of the busy life that had long passed away.1918, James George Frazer, Folk-Lore In The Old Testament, volume 1, page 7

Verb (2)

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple 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.
   • The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad.1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

   Synonyms:

   ache for, yearn

Adjective (2)

long (not comparable)

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

   Synonyms:

   lengthy

Verb (3)

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

1. (archaic) To be appropriate to, to pertain or belong to.
   • A goodly Armour, and full rich aray, / Which long’d to Angela, the Saxon Queene, / All fretted round with gold, and goodly wel beseene.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
   • Tis well, and hold your owne in any case / With such austeritie as longeth to a father.c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...

Verb (4)

long (third-person singular simple present longs, present participle longing, simple past and past participle longed)

1. (obsolete) To belong.
   • Now ſend Ambaſſage to thy neighbor Kinges,
     And let them know the Perſian King is chang’d:
     From one that knew not what a King ſhould doe,
     To one that can commaund what longs there to: […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Long

IPA/ˈlɒŋ/

Long (countable and uncountable, plural Longs)

1. A surname transferred from the nickname. Originally a nickname for a tall man.
   • Huey Long
   • Then there’s Billy Long, a former auctioneer and Republican congressman who Trump nominated and was confirmed less than two months ago to head the Internal Revenue Service, with “little background in tax policy beyond promoting a fraud-riddled tax credit”. Long has already been fired after clashing...2025 August 25, Robert Reich, “Why Trump built a staff of incompetent sycophants”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 25 Aug 2025
2. An unincorporated community in Columbia County, Washington, United States.
3. A commune in Somme department, Hauts-de-France, France.

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Long

IPA/ˈlɒŋ/

Long (countable and uncountable, plural Longs)

1. (countable) A surname from Chinese.
2. A county of Baoji, Shaanxi, China.
   • “Long” is an ancient name for the area around what is now Long County in Shaanxi Province. The land south of Long is the Sichuan Basin.1997, Stephen R. Bokenkamp, Early Daoist Scriptures, University of California Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 346
   • Each animal is cast with a hollow, open body that fits over the yoke of a cart (cat. nos. 31, 3c, 37), as do similarly designed animal figures excavated from a Qin tomb at Bianjiazhuang, Long county, southwestern Shaanxi Province.2002, Emma C. Bunker, Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes: The Eugene V. Thaw and Other Notable New York Collections, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 24