Word.ws English Dictionary

not long

not long adverb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see not, long.

Adverb

not long

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see not, long.
    • "How long have you been in the service?" ―"Not long."
  2. (UK) Fairly recently.
    • "[…] You ought to try one of these biscuits. They're good."
      "I've not long had breakfast," Morgan told him.1976, L. P. Davies, Possession, The Crime Club, →ISBN, page 138
    • So I'd be going along to Elam Church sometimes and they had to go to a spring to get their water for the church; the spring was less'n a quarter of a mile from the church, good spring of water. And I'd be there, maybe not long got there, or I'd be there a pretty good while before I'd see her.2018 July 31, Theodore Rosengarten, All God's Dangers: The Life of Nate Shaw, Vintage, →ISBN, page 60

Questions about not long

What does not long mean?
Not long means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see not, long.
What part of speech is not long?
Not long is an adverb.

Words near not long in the dictionary

  1. not know which way to turn
  2. not least
  3. not leave a stone unturned
  4. not leave one's thoughts
  5. not likely
  6. not long
  7. not long for
  8. not long for the world
  9. not long for this world
  10. not look a day over
  11. not make any bones about

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: not long (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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