long-felt
adjEtymology From long + felt.
1
Idiomatic Of a problem, need, or desire, that has existed for a significant period of time without an adequate solution.
- They always satisfy a long-felt want - on the part of the professors; and they seem to be "fillin'" to certain "aching voids" that gather in to fill the classes.1883, Ohio State Eclectic Medical Association, Worthington College (Ohio). Medical Department (contributor), The Eclectic Medical Journal, page 196:
- Here Plaintiff says that the St. Germain patent supplied a long-felt need when Plaintiff itself, an aerosol valve manufacturer, has never been able to give the public one single St. Germain valve structure.1964, United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Aerosol Research Company V. Scovill Manufacturing Company, (A. Schrader's Son Division), page 7:
1 more example
- The longest-felt need in computers has been for an economical on-line memory where vast amounts of information are almost instantly accessible.1988, Marvin Camras, Magnetic Recording Handbook, page 605: