See Also: Length(medicine)
length(dictionary)
length(dictionary)
length of a curve(encyclopedia)
focal length(medicine)
greatest length(medicine)
Focal length(health)
leg length inequality(medicine)
length of stay(medicine)
Arm's length price(finance)

length (oh)



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1 ?size?
2 ?time?
3 ?books/films etc?
4 run/stretch/walk etc the (full) length of something
5 shoulder-length/knee-length etc
6 go to some/great/any lengths (to do something)
7 at (some/great etc) length
8 the length and breadth of the area/country/land etc
9 ?piece?
10 ?in races?
11 ?swimming?
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[Language: Old English; Origin: lengthu, from lang; LONG1]
?SIZE?
[U and C] the measurement of how long something is from one end to the other
-see also breadth breadth, width width
::We measured the length and width of the living room.
a length of 1 metre/2 feet etc
::Some fish can grow to a length of four feet.
2 feet/10 metres etc in length
::The hotel pool is 15 metres in length.
::You'll need several pieces of string of different lengths.
?TIME?
[U and C] the amount of time that you spend doing something or that something continues
-see also duration duration length of
::Your pension will depend on your length of employment.
::What's the average length of stay in hospital?
(not) for any length of time
(=not for very long)
::He wasn't left alone for any length of time.
?BOOKS/FILMS ETC?
[U and C] the amount of writing in a book, or the amount of time that a film, play etc continues
length of
::We had to cut the length of the book by one third.
of this length
::Films of this length (=as long as this) are pretty unusual.
run/stretch/walk etc the (full) length of sth
to go or move from one end to the other of something
::The wall ran the full length of the garden.
::They walked the length of the pier.
shoulder-length/knee-length etc
reaching down as far as your shoulders etc
::shoulder-length hair
::an ankle-length dress
go to some/great/any lengths (to do sth)
to try very hard or to do whatever is necessary to achieve something that is important to you
::He went to great lengths to keep their name out of the papers.
::Bella would go to any lengths to fulfil her ambition.
at (some/great etc) length
a) if you talk at length about something, you talk about it for a long time
speak/talk etc at length
::The young people spoke at length about their experiences.
::We've already discussed the subject at great length.
b) literary after a long time
::'I don't agree,' she said at length.
the length and breadth of the area/country/land etc
in or through every part of a large area
::The police searched the length and breadth of the country.
?PIECE?
[C] a piece of something long and thin
a length of rope/pipe/wire etc
?IN RACES?
[C] the measurement of a horse, boat etc from one end to the other - used when saying how far the horse, boat etc is ahead of another
by a/one/two etc lengths
::The horse won by three lengths.
?SWIMMING?
[C] the distance from one end of a swimming pool to the other
do/swim a length
::She does at least 20 lengths a day.
-see also hold sth at arm's length at arm 1 (8), keep/hold sb at arm's length at arm 1 (9), full-length 1