Adjacent Words

Length definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

LENGTH, n.
1. The extent of anything material from end to end; the longest line which can be drawn through a body, parallel to its sides; as the length of a church or of a ship; the length of a rope or line.
2. Extent; extension.
Stretch'd at his length he spurns the swarthy ground.
3. A certain extent; a portion of space; with a plural.
Large lengths of seas and shores -
4. Space of time; duration, indefinitely; as a great length of time. What length of time will this enterprise require for its accomplishment?
5. Long duration.
May heaven, great monarch, still augment your bliss, with length of days, and every day like this.
6. Reach or extent; as, to pursue a subject to a great length.
7. Extent; as the length of a discourse, essay, or argument.
8. Distance.
He had marched to the length of Exeter.
[Unusual and inelegant.]
1. At length, at or in the full extent. Let the name be inserted at length.
2. At last; at the end or conclusion.
LENGTH, v.t. To extend. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place; "the length of the table was 5 feet"
2: continuance in time; "the ceremony was of short duration"; "he complained about the length of time required" [syn: duration, length]
3: the property of being the extent of something from beginning to end; "the editor limited the length of my article to 500 words"
4: size of the gap between two places; "the distance from New York to Chicago"; "he determined the length of the shortest line segment joining the two points" [syn: distance, length]
5: a section of something that is long and narrow; "a length of timber"; "a length of tubing"

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural lengths) Etymology: Middle English lengthe, from Old English lengthu, from lang long Date: before 12th century 1. a. the longer or longest dimension of an object b. a measured distance or dimension <10 feet in length> — see metric system table, weight table c. the quality or state of being long 2. a. duration or extent in time b. relative duration or stress of a sound 3. a. distance or extent in space b. the length of something taken as a unit of measure <his horse led by a length> 4. the degree to which something (as a course of action or a line of thought) is carried — often used in plural <went to great lengths to learn the truth> 5. a. a long expanse or stretch b. a piece constituting or usable as part of a whole or of a connected series ; section <a length of pipe> 6. the longer or vertical dimension of a piece of clothing — often used in combination <elbow-length sleeves>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 measurement or extent from end to end; the greater of two or the greatest of three dimensions of a body. 2 extent in, of, or with regard to, time (a stay of some length; the length of a speech). 3 the distance a thing extends (at arm's length; ships a cable's length apart). 4 the length of a horse, boat, etc., as a measure of the lead in a race. 5 a long stretch or extent (a length of hair). 6 a degree of thoroughness in action (went to great lengths; prepared to go to any length). 7 a piece of material of a certain length (a length of cloth). 8 Prosody the quantity of a vowel or syllable. 9 Cricket a the distance from the batsman at which the ball pitches (the bowler keeps a good length). b the proper amount of this. 10 the extent of a garment in a vertical direction when worn. 11 the full extent of one's body. Phrases and idioms: at length 1 (also at full or great etc. length) in detail, without curtailment. 2 after a long time, at last. Etymology: OE lengthu f. Gmc (as LONG(1))

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Length Length (l[e^]ngth), n. [OE. lengthe, AS. leng[eth], fr. lang, long, long; akin to D. lengte, Dan. l[ae]ngde, Sw. l["a]ngd, Icel. lengd. See Long, a. ] 1. The longest, or longer, dimension of any object, in distinction from breadth or width; extent of anything from end to end; the longest line which can be drawn through a body, parallel to its sides; as, the length of a church, or of a ship; the length of a rope or line. 2. A portion of space or of time considered as measured by its length; -- often in the plural. Large lengths of seas and shores. --Shak. The future but a length behind the past. --Dryden. 3. The quality or state of being long, in space or time; extent; duration; as, some sea birds are remarkable for the length of their wings; he was tired by the length of the sermon, and the length of his walk. 4. A single piece or subdivision of a series, or of a number of long pieces which may be connected together; as, a length of pipe; a length of fence. 5. Detail or amplification; unfolding; continuance as, to pursue a subject to a great length. May Heaven, great monarch, still augment your bliss With length of days, and every day like this. --Dryden. 6. Distance.[Obs.] He had marched to the length of Exeter. --Clarendon. At length. (a) At or in the full extent; without abbreviation; as, let the name be inserted at length. (b) At the end or conclusion; after a long period. See Syn. of At last, under Last. At arm's length. See under Arm.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Length Length, v. t. To lengthen. [Obs.] --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(lengths) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. The length of something is the amount that it measures from one end to the other along the longest side. It is about a metre in length. ...the length of the fish... The plane had a wing span of 34ft and a length of 22ft. N-VAR: oft with poss, oft amount in N, N of amount 2. The length of something such as a piece of writing is the amount of writing that is contained in it. ...a book of at least 100 pages in length... The length of a paragraph depends on the information it conveys. N-VAR: oft with poss, oft amount in N 3. The length of an event, activity, or situation is the period of time from beginning to end for which something lasts or during which something happens. The exact length of each period may vary... His film, over two hours in length, is a subtle study of family life. N-VAR: oft with poss, oft amount in N 4. A length of rope, cloth, wood, or other material is a piece of it that is intended to be used for a particular purpose or that exists in a particular situation. ...a 30ft length of rope... You can hang lengths of fabric behind the glass. N-COUNT: with supp, oft N of n 5. The length of something is its quality of being long. Many have been surprised at the length of time it has taken him to make up his mind... I noticed, too, the length of her fingers. N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp, oft N of n 6. If you swim a length in a swimming pool, you swim the distance from one end to the other. I swim 40 lengths a day. N-COUNT: usu num N 7. In boat racing or horse racing, a length is the distance from the front to the back of the boat or horse. You can talk about one boat or horse being one or more lengths in front of or behind another. Harvard won by four lengths. N-COUNT: usu num N 8. If something happens or exists along the length of something, it happens or exists for the whole way along it. I looked along the length of the building... The inspiration stemming from his travels lasted the length of his career. N-SING: the N of n 9. see also full-length 10. If someone does something at length, they do it after a long period of time. (LITERARY) At length my father went into the house. PHRASE: PHR cl 11. If someone does something at length, they do it for a long time or in great detail. They spoke at length, reviewing the entire incident. PHRASE: PHR after v 12. If you say that someone goes to great lengths to achieve something, you mean that they try very hard and perhaps do extreme things in order to achieve it. Greta Garbo went to great lengths to hide from reporters and photographers. PHRASE: V inflects 13. at arm's length: see arm the length and breadth of: see breadth

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Extent, longitudinal dimensions. 2. Long duration, duration, continuance. 3. Detail, amplification, fulness.

Moby Thesaurus

aesthetic distance, amplitude, area, at full length, at length, at long last, bigness, body, breadth, bulk, caliber, clearance, compass, completely, coverage, deep space, depth, depths of space, diameter, dimension, dimensions, distance, divergence, duration, eventually, exhaustively, expanse, expansion, extension, extensively, extent, farness, finally, fully, gauge, girth, greatness, height, in detail, infinity, interminably, largeness, leeway, light-years, magnitude, margin, mass, measure, measurement, mileage, orbit, panorama, parsecs, period, perspective, piece, proportion, proportions, purview, radius, range, reach, realm, remoteness, scale, scope, separation, size, space, span, spread, stretch, stride, term, thoroughly, ultimately, volume, way, ways, width