length meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

length

noun

CA, US, UK /lɛŋ(k)θ/ · US /leɪŋ(k)θ/

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”).

11 senses

1The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.
2Duration.
3The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance…
4Distance between the two ends of a line segment.
5The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its…
6Total extent.
7Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.
8A penis.
9A unit of script length, comprising 42 lines.
10The number of cards held in a particular suit.
11The amount of time for which the taste of wine lingers…

The distance measured along the longest dimension of an object.

Duration.

Happiness makes up in height for what it lacks in length.1941, Robert Frost, The Gift Outright:

Hobbies, Horse racing, Horseracing, Horses, Lifestyle, Pets, Racing, Sports The length of a horse, used to indicate the distance between horses at the end of a race.

five lengths ahead of the field

Mathematics, Sciences Distance between the two ends of a line segment.

Ball games, Cricket, Games, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports The distance down the pitch that the ball bounces on its way to the batsman.

Figuratively Total extent.

the length of a book

Part of something that is long; a physical piece of something.

a length of rope
a length of hair

Slang A penis.

, Bride for the Billionaire Bear Shifter His cock felt firm under her palm, and her mouth watered as she imagined wrapping her lips around his length.

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Theater A unit of script length, comprising 42 lines.

[…] open your book of the play, which you have previously carefully perused, and at the same time marked with the proper calls, as thus: a length (or 42 lines) before an entrance, with a pen make a figure on the margin, […]1890, Henry Austin, Address of Henry Austin Before the Second Nationalist Club, page 38:
The boy was engaged to write out parts at a penny a length (42 lines) for Chetwood, who then charged the manager, […]1960, J. L. Hodgkinson, Rex Pogson, The Early Manchester Theatre, page 45:

Bridge, Games The number of cards held in a particular suit.

An artificial bid doesn't necessarily show length in the suit being bid, it has an altogether different meaning.1999, Edwin B. Kantar, Eddie Kantar Teaches Advanced Bridge Defense, page 191:

Beverages, Food, Lifestyle, Oenology, Wine The amount of time for which the taste of wine lingers on the palate after swallowing or spitting it out, measured in caudilies.

Synonyms: length, lengthiness, longitude, longness
Antonyms: width
Derived terms: 91 terms
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, Debye length, dragonlength, feature-length, finger-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 and breadth, 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, overlength, path length, Planck length, read length, ribbonlength, roughness length, run-length encoding, scale length, scalelength, screening length, semilength, short of a length, shoulder-length, sidelength, slip someone a length, steplength, swordlength, swordslength, tea-length, the length of the Flemington straight, treelength, variable-length array, wavelength, whole-length, wirelength, wordlength, zero-length, zero-length launching
Hypernyms: physical property, size
Hyponyms: span
Holonyms: dimension

length

verb

Obsolete To lengthen.

Pack night, peep day; good day, of night now borrow: / Short night, to-night, and length thyself to-morrow.
Was never man such favour could off atall ladies fynde, To cause them lengthe or shorte the day which they to hym assynde.1552, Richard Huloet, “Ladies of Destinie”, in Abecedarium Anglico-Latinum:

1 more example

[He] knows full well life doth but length his pain.a. 1608, Thomas Sackville, Allegorical Personages described in Hell: