Long (?), a. [Compar.Longer (?); superl.Longest (?).] [AS. long, lang; akin to OS, OFries., D., & G. lang, Icel. langr, Sw. lång, Dan. lang, Goth. laggs, L. longus. √125. Cf. Length, Ling a fish, Linger, Lunge, Purloin.] 1. Drawn out in a line, or in the direction of length; protracted; extended; as, a long line; — opposed to short, and distinguished from broad or wide.
2. Drawn out or extended in time; continued through a considerable tine, or to a great length; as, a long series of events; a long debate; a long drama; a long history; a long book.
3. Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration; lingering; as, long hours of watching.
4. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.
The we may us reserve both fresh and strong
Against the tournament, which is not long. Spenser.
5. Extended to any specified measure; of a specified length; as, a span long; a yard long; a mile long, that is, extended to the measure of a mile, etc.
6. Far-reaching; extensive. “ Long views.” Burke.
7. (Phonetics) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in utterance; — said of vowels and syllables. See Short, a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 22, 30.
☞ Long is used as a prefix in a large number of compound adjectives which are mostly of obvious meaning; as, long-armed, long-beaked, long-haired, long-horned, long-necked, long-sleeved, long-tailed, long- worded, etc.
In the long run, in the whole course of things taken together; in the ultimate result; eventually. — Long clam(Zoöl.), the common clam (Mya arenaria) of the Northern United States and Canada; — called also soft-shell clam and long-neck clam. See Mya. — Long cloth, a kind of cotton cloth of superior quality. — Long clothes, clothes worn by a young infant, extending below the feet. — Long division. (Math.) See Division. — Long dozen, one more than a dozen; thirteen. — Long home, the grave. — Long measure, Long meter. See under Measure, Meter. — Long Parliament(Eng. Hist.), the Parliament which assembled Nov. 3, 1640, and was dissolved by Cromwell, April 20, 1653. — Long price, the full retail price. — Long purple(Bot.), a plant with purple flowers, supposed to be the Orchis mascula. Dr. Prior. — Long suit(Whist), a suit of which one holds originally more than three cards. R. A. Proctor. — Long tom. (a) A pivot gun of great length and range, on the dock of a vessel. (b) A long trough for washing auriferous earth. (c) (Zoöl.) The long-tailed titmouse. — Long wall(Coal Mining), a working in which the whole seam is removed and the roof allowed to fall in, as the work progresses, except where passages are needed. — Of long, a long time. Fairfax. — To be, orgo, long of the market, To be on the long side of the market, etc. (Stock Exchange), to hold stock for a rise in price, or to have a contract under which one can demand stock on or before a certain day at a stipulated price; — opposed to short in such phrases as, to be short of stock, to sell short, etc. See Short. — To have a long head, to have a farseeing or sagacious mind.