What does "long" mean?

Additional senses

1. 2.Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration; lingering; as, long hours of watching.
2. 3.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.
3. 4.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.
4. 5.Far-reaching; extensive. " Long views." Burke.
5. 6.(Phonetics) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in utterance; -- said of vowels and syllables. See Short, a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, §§ 22, 30. Note: 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 mater. 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. [Western U.S.] (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. [Obs.] Fairfax. -- To be, or go, 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. [Cant] See Short. -- To have a long head, to have a farseeing or sagacious mind.
6. 7.(Mus.) A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve.
7. 8.(Phonetics) A long sound, syllable, or vowel.
8. 9.The longest dimension; the greatest extent; -- in the phrase, the long and the short of it, that is, the sum and substance of it. Addison.
9. 10.To a great extent in apace; as, a long drawn out line.
10. 11.To a great extent in time; during a long time. They that tarry long at the wine. Prov. xxiii.
11. 12.When the trumpet soundeth long. Ex. xix.
12. 13.3. At a point of duration far distant, either prior or posterior; as, not long before; not long after; long before the foundation of Rome; long after the Conquest.
13. 14.Through the whole extent or duration. The bird of dawning singeth all night long. Shak.
14. 15.Through an extent of time, more or less; -- only in question; as, how long will you be gone
15. 16.By means of; by the fault of; because of. [Obs.] See Along of, under 3d Along.
16. 17.To feel a strong or morbid desire or craving; to wish for something with eagerness; -- followed by an infinitive, or by after or for. I long to see you. Rom. i.
17. 18.I have longed after thy precepts. Ps. cxix.
18. 19.I have longed for thy salvation. Ps. cxix. 174. Nicomedes, longing for herrings, was supplied with fresh ones . . . at a great distance from the sea. Arbuthnot.
19. 20.To belong; -- used with to, unto, or for. [Obs.] The labor which that longeth unto me. Chaucer.