Distance ˈdɪstəns Short House Extra Examples People Friendly

• a short/long distance
• paul has to drive very long distances as part of his job.
• to travel/cover a distance of 200 kilometres
• she walked the short distance to her apartment.

distance

1. the amount of space between two places or things
• SEE ALSO long-distance
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/long-distance_2
• a short/long distance
• Paul has to drive very long distances as part of his job.
• to travel/cover a distance of 200 kilometres
• She walked the short distance to her apartment.
• Once she was a safe distance from the shop, Gina stopped.
• the distance of the earth from the sun
• What’s the distance from New York City to Boston?
• What’s the distance between New York City and Boston?
• The wind carries pollen over considerable distances.
• The beach is within walking distance of my house (= you can walk there easily).
• The house is within easy commuting distance of town.
• In the US, distance is measured in miles.
• Our parents live some distance away (= quite far away).
• a distance (= long-distance) runner/swimmer

Extra Examples

• I kept a comfortable distance behind the van.
• Allow for greater braking distances when pulling a loaded trailer.
• He moved a short distance up the valley.
• He was gradually closing the distance between himself and the other runners.
• It is very difficult to judge distances in the desert.
• It's quite a good distance to the nearest town.
• She sprinted the entire distance.
• The arch spans a distance of 285 feet.
• The bars are within walking distance.
• The house is a short distance away from the bus station.
• The leaders in the race were a considerable distance ahead.
• The people travel vast distances to find food.
• The sound can be heard over a distance of more than five miles.
• The spacecraft has the ability to traverse great distances.
• The town is a considerable distance from the coast.
• The young birds were soon flying distances of 200 feet or more.
• a champion distance swimmer
• a long-distance runner
• children living within a certain distance of the school
• the average distance covered during pursuits by cheetahs
• the distance from our house to the school
• to have good distance vision
2. being far away in space or in time
• Distance is no problem on the internet.
• These immigrants face problems of geographical distance and cultural isolation.
• The car put physical distance between people and their places of work.

Extra Examples

• No time or distance can limit this type of friendship.
• These immigrants face problems of physical distance.
• Because of geographical distance, Britain had not been as Romanized as Gaul or Spain.
3. a point that is a particular amount of space away from something else
• You'll never get the ball in from that distance.
• The cat sat and watched us from a safe distance.
• Visitors can only view the painting from a distance of three metres.
• She followed them at a discreet distance.
• A digital camera was positioned at a distance of 1.5 metres from the subject.
4. a difference or lack of a connection between two things
• The distance between fashion and art remains as great as ever.
• The government is keen to put some distance between itself and these events (= show that there is no connection between them).
• Sociologists must maintain critical distance from the ideas of society at any particular time.
• Eddie is, by some distance (= by a great amount), the funniest character in the show.
5. a situation in which there is a lack of friendly feelings or of a close relationship between two people or groups of people
• The coldness and distance in her voice took me by surprise.
• There was a growing distance between the two sides of the family.
• He worried about the increasing distance between his children and himself.
• He felt a sense of distance from the others.
6. from a place or time that is not near; from far away
• She had loved him at a distance for years.

Extra Examples

• At a distance it is difficult to make out the detail on the building.
• We admired the palace from a distance.
7. to continue playing in a competition or sports contest until the end
• Nobody thought he would last 15 rounds, but he went the full distance.
8. far away but still able to be seen or heard
• We saw lights in the distance.
• Alice stood staring into the distance.
• Five miles of sand stretched away into the distance.

Extra Examples

• I could just see the hills in the far distance.
• In the distance was a small town.
• The moors stretched away into the blue distance.
• The road stretches off into the distance.
9. to refuse to be friendly with somebody; to not let somebody be friendly towards you
• The manager prefers to keep employees at a distance.
10. to make sure you are not too near somebody/something
11. to avoid getting too friendly or involved with a person, group, etc.
• She was warned to keep her distance from Charles if she didn't want to get hurt.
12. very close
• We came within touching distance of winning the cup.
• We live within spitting distance of the bus station.

Word Origin

• Middle English (in the sense ‘discord, debate’): from Old French or from Latin distantia, from distant- ‘standing apart’, from the verb distare, from dis- ‘apart’ + stare ‘stand’.