length (lɛŋkθ
;lɛŋθ
)
Definitions
noun
- the linear extent or measurement of something from end to end, usually being the longest dimension or, for something fixed, the longest horizontal dimension
- the extent of something from beginning to end, measured in some more or less regular units or intervals ⇒
the book was 600 pages in length
- a specified distance, esp between two positions or locations ⇒
the length of a race
- a period of time, as between specified limits or moments
- something of a specified, average, or known size or extent measured in one dimension, often used as a unit of measurement ⇒
a length of cloth
- a piece or section of something narrow and long ⇒
a length of tubing
- the quality, state, or fact of being long rather than short
- (usually plural) the amount of trouble taken in pursuing or achieving something (esp in the phrase to great lengths)
- (often plural) the extreme or limit of action (in phrases such as to any length(s), to what length(s) would someone go, etc)
- prosody phonetics the metrical quantity or temporal duration of a vowel or syllable
- the distance from one end of a rectangular swimming bath to the other Compare width (sense 4)
- prosody the quality of a vowel, whether stressed or unstressed, that distinguishes it from another vowel of similar articulatory characteristics. Thus () in English the quality of a vowel, whether stressed or unstressed, that distinguishes it from another vowel of similar articulatory characteristics. Thus () in English beat is of greater length than () in English the quality of a vowel, whether stressed or unstressed, that distinguishes it from another vowel of similar articulatory characteristics. Thus () in English is of greater length than () in English bit
- cricket the distance from the batsman at which the ball pitches
- bridge a holding of four or more cards in a suit
- New Zealand informal the general idea; the main purpose
- See at length
Word Origin
Old English lengthu; related to Middle Dutch lengede, Old Norse lengd