English Explanatory Dictionary

length

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.
  2. Duration.
  3. The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.
  4. Distance between the two ends of a line segment.
  5. The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.
  6. Total extent.
  7. Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.
  8. A penis.
  9. A unit of script length, comprising 42 lines.
  10. The number of cards held in a particular suit.
  11. The amount of time for which the taste of wine lingers on the palate after swallowing or spitting it out, measured in caudilies.
verb
  1. To lengthen.

Pronunciation

lĕng(k)th lĕn(t)th /lɛŋ(k)θ/ /lɛn(t)θ/ /leɪŋ(k)θ/ /leɪn(t)θ/ /læŋ(k)θ/ en-us-length.ogg en-au-length.ogg LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-length.wav

Word forms

length lengths lengthing lengthed

Etymology

From Middle English lengthe, from Old English lengþ, lengþu, from Proto-West Germanic *langiþu, from Proto-Germanic *langiþō, equivalent to long + -th (abstract nominal suffix). Cognate with Scots lenth, lainth (“length”), Saterland Frisian Loangte (“length”), West Frisian lingte, langte (“length”), Dutch lengte (“length”), German Low German Längde, Längd, Längte, Längt (“length”), Danish længde (“length”), Swedish längd (“length”), Icelandic lengd (“length”).

Synonyms

length lengthiness longitude longness distance

Antonyms

width

Derived words

after length after-length arc length arclength armlength arm's length arm's length price arm's length principle at arm's length at length bishop's length bitlength Bjerrum length block length boatlength boatslength bond length book-length brength cable length calf-length calibrated focal length chunklength cocktail length codelength commutator length daylength debye length dragonlength feature-length floor-length focal length full-length good length go to any lengths go to great lengths half-length Hubble length in length keep at arm's length knee-length length contraction lengthen lengthful lengthless length of days length operator length overall length scale lengthsome lengthways lengthwise lengthy line and length measure one's length mixing length multilength nanolength null patch length null path length
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