long

adjective21

1. •
   Having much distance in space from one end to the other.

   • I need a long piece of wood.
   • It’s a long way from the Earth to the Moon.
2. •
   lasting a lot of time

   • His speech was long and dull.
   • The pyramids of Egypt have been around for a long time.
3. •
   Seeming to last a lot of time, due to being boring, tedious, tiring, irksome, etc.

   • It took us three long weeks to clear the stones from the field.
   • It'll be a long journey home for the travelling supporters after that 5-0 defeat.
4. •
   Specifically, having much distance in a horizontal dimension (see also Usage Notes below).

   • This table is long but not very high.
5. •
   Travelling a great distance.

   • Smith hoofs a long ball up to Jones.
6. •
   (informal) Having a long penis.

   • My ex was very strong but not very long.
7. •
   (UK, old-fashioned) Not short; tall.

   • The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it. — 1908
8. •
   Travelling or extending too great a distance in space.
9. •
   Passing or landing ahead of or beyond the intended target or location.

   • The plane touched down long and overran the end of the runway.
10. •
    Going beyond the intended target.

    • That forehand was long. It landed two feet beyond the baseline.
    • The pass was long and was gathered by the opposing goalkeeper.
11. •
    Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.
12. •
    Possessing or owning stocks, bonds, commodities, or other financial instruments with the aim of benefiting from an expected rise in their value.

    • I’m long in DuPont.
    • I have a long position in DuPont.
13. •
    Of betting odds, offering a very large return for a small wager.
14. •
    (slang) stupid; annoying; bullshit

    • DUSHANE: I’m stepping back from the roads now. All of that shit is long! And by next year, I want to be completely legit, then it’s just me, you and Tish. — 2022
15. •
    (slang) Clipping of taking a long time.

    • "Cadet, Cadet!" Not every day, fam. Can't you see why it's long? I just wanna get my creps and be gone. — 2017
16. •
    Of a fielding position, close to the boundary (or closer to the boundary than the equivalent short position).
17. •
    (slang) In great supply; abundant.

    • I’m talkin’ ’bout… I’m talkin’ ’bout that long money. — 2011
18. •
    (slang) serious; deadly.

    • JAMIE: Yo, if I see you man round here again, it is long for you! — 2022
19. •
    (US, Canada) Measuring 8½ in × 13 in.
20. •
    (Philippines) Measuring 8½ in × 14 in.
21. •
    (no longer used) On account of, because of.

    • I am of opinion, that in regarde of these debauches and lewde actions, fathers may, in some sort, be blamed, and that it is onely long of them. — 1603

adverb6

1. •
   For a long time.

   • Paris has long been considered one of the most cultured cities in the world.
   • By eight o’clock, the food will be long gone.
2. •
   A long time (see usage notes).

   • Will this interview take long?
   • I haven’t got long to live.
3. •
   For a particular duration (specified by additional qualifying words accompanying it).

   • How long is it until the next bus arrives?
   • She has known us as long as you.
4. •
   Over a great distance in space.

   • Every golfer wants to hit the ball long and straight.
5. •
   Over too great a distance, beyond the target.

   • She hit her return long and lost the point.
6. •
   A long time ago.

   • The place was solitary and deserted […] only the line of mouldering towers and battlements on the hill above spoke of the busy life that had long passed away. — 1918

noun9

1. •
   An entity with a long position in an asset; for example, a trader or investor possessing an amount of a company's shares.

   • Every uptick made the longs cheer.
2. •
   Abbreviation of longitude.
3. •
   A long vowel.

   • In French most vowels are half-long, and are only occasionally lengthened or shortened into full longs and shorts. — 1877
4. •
   A long syllable.
5. •
   A long integer variable, twice the size of an int, two or four times the size of a short, and half of a long long.

   • A long is typically 64 bits in a 32-bit environment.
6. •
   A long-maturity security, such as a ten- or twenty-year bond.

   • "U.S. Treasury Market Structure", https://www.mfaalts.org/issue/u-s-treasury-market-structure/ Hedge funds are constrained in how much leverage they can utilize, in part because the futures contracts they are shorting against their Treasury longs have significant initial margin requirements.
7. •
   (old-fashioned) Clipping of long vacation (“summer vacation”).

   • “[…] Did I not forbid all these nicknames and all this Oxfordish, by proclamation, last Long.” “Last Long?” “Hem! last protracted vacation.” — 1863
8. •
   A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve.
9. •
   (Philippines) Ellipsis of long bond paper.

verb4

1. •
   To await, aspire, desire greatly (something to occur or to be true).

   • She longed for him to come back.
2. •
   To take a long position in.

   • The left panel shows the profile of a portfolio consisting of longing a call and shorting a put. — 2004
3. •
   (no longer used) To be appropriate to, to pertain or belong to.

   • A goodly Armour, and full rich aray, / Which long’d to Angela, the Saxon Queene, / All fretted round with gold, and goodly wel beseene. — 1590
4. •
   (no longer used) To belong.

   • Now send Ambassage to thy neighbor Kinges, And let them know the Persian King is chang’d: From one that knew not what a King should doe, To one that can commaund what longs there to: […] — 1587

noun1

1. •
   Abbreviation of longitude.

   • Several latds. on Lake Superior with the long. at the most westerly part thereof, […] — 1906