Length Long Time Leŋkθ Measure Size End Arm's

• measure the length of the line from a to b.
• to estimate/calculate/increase/reduce the length of something
• the river is 300 miles in length.
• the snake usually reaches a length of 100 cm.

length

Word Family

• long adjective adverb
• length noun
• lengthy adjective
• lengthen verb
1. the size or measurement of something from one end to the other
• COMPARE breadth
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/breadth
• Measure the length of the line from A to B.
• to estimate/calculate/increase/reduce the length of something
• The river is 300 miles in length.
• The snake usually reaches a length of 100 cm.
• Safety barriers will be installed along the full length of the road.
• He ran the entire length of the beach.
• Look at the length of that queue!
• He has to hold newspapers at arm's length to focus on the print.

Extra Examples

• This room is twice the length of the kitchen.
• He measured the length and width of the table.
• Measure the size of the window and cut the cloth to length.
• The fence runs the length of the footpath.
• The pipe was six feet in length.
• The queen bee is twice the length of a worker bee.
• The queue stretched the whole length of the High Street.
• The vehicle has an overall length of 12 feet.
• There were coloured lights along the whole length of the street.
• These fish can reach a length of over five feet.
• a ditch of great length and width
2. the quality of being long
• Did you see the length of his hair?
3. the amount of time that something lasts
• The average length of each song on the album is six minutes.
• These changes will shorten the length of time spent waiting for test results.
• She got a headache if she had to read for any length of time (= for a long time).
• Size of pension depends partly on length of service with the company.
• Each class is 45 minutes in length.

Extra Examples

• We discussed shortening the length of the course.
• Each lesson was an hour in length.
• They complained about the inordinate length of time they had to wait.
4. the amount of writing in a book, or a document, etc.; the amount of time that a film lasts
• SEE ALSO feature-length
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/feature-length
• There is a maximum length of 2 500 words.
• The document is over 800 pages in length.
• Her novels vary in length.
5. having the length mentioned
• SEE ALSO full-length
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/full-length_2
• shoulder-length hair
6. the distance from one end of a swimming pool to the other
• COMPARE width
  https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/width
• He swims 50 lengths a day.
• I did 20 lengths today.
7. the size of a horse or boat from one end to the other, when it is used to measure the distance between two horses or boats taking part in a race
• The horse won by two clear lengths.
8. a long, thin piece of something
• a length of rope/string/wire
• The timber is sold in lengths of 2, 5 or 10 metres.

Extra Examples

• a short length of wire
• long lengths of wool
• Carry a whistle and a spare length of rope.
• The pipe was attached to the wall with a length of wire
9. for a long time and in detail
• He quoted at length from the report.
• We have already discussed this matter at great length.
• He told me at length about his new job.
10. after a long time
• ‘I'm still not sure,’ he said at length.
11. to put a lot of effort into doing something, especially when this seems extreme
• She goes to extraordinary lengths to keep her private life private.
12. to avoid having a close relationship with somebody
• He keeps all his clients at arm's length.
• She kept him at arm's length until he stopped smoking.
13. in or to all parts of a place
• They have travelled the length and breadth of Europe giving concerts.
• They travelled the length and breadth of the land.

Word Origin

• Old English lengthu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lengte, also to long (adjective).