INDEX:
1. a long distance
2. when something you can see or hear is far away
3. far away from other places
4. too far away to reach
5. travelling or reaching over a long distance
6. not travelling or reaching a long distance
RELATED WORDS
opposite
↑ NEAR
how far : ↑ DISTANCE
see also
↑ LONG
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1. a long distance
▷ far /fɑːʳ/ [adverb]
a long distance - use this especially in negatives and questions :
▪ Have you driven far?
▪ We won’t be able to go much farther because of the snow.
▪ Who do you think can jump the farthest?
far from
▪ Cleveland isn’t very far from here.
▪ We were sitting too far from the stage to hear what the actors were saying.
far above/below/behind etc
▪ I was now far behind the others and knew I couldn’t catch up.
▷ far away /ˌfɑːr əˈweɪ/ [adverb]
a very long distance from where you are :
▪ The ship was so far away that we could hardly see it.
far away from
▪ She wanted to get as far away from New York as possible.
as far away as something
▪ Because of the snowstorm on the east coast, flights for Boston were sent as far away as Montreal.
from far away
▪ Thousands of people had come from far away for a chance to see the Pope.
▷ a long way also a long ways American spoken /ə ˌlɒŋ ˈweɪ, ə ˌlɒŋ ˈweɪzǁ-ˌlɔːŋ-/ [adverb]
a long distance :
▪ You must be tired - you’ve come a long way.
a long way from
▪ The farm is a long way from the highway.
a long way away/a long way off
a long way from where you are now or from the place you are talking about
▪ We could hear them shouting from a long way away.
▪ From the map, it looked as if the lake was still a long way off.
a long way ahead/below/behind etc
▪ It’s a long way down - hold on tight.
▷ a fair way/quite a way/a good way British also quite a ways American spoken /ə ˌfeəʳ ˈweɪ, ˌkwaɪt ə ˈweɪ, ə ˌgʊd ˈweɪ, ˌkwaɪt ə ˈweɪz/ [adverb]
fairly far, used especially to warn someone that a distance is longer than they think :
▪ Look at the map. It’s a fair way to drive in one day.
▪ The children will have to walk quite a way if we take them into the woods.
▷ some distance/quite a distance/a good distance /ˌsʌm ˈdɪstəns, ˌkwaɪt ə ˈdɪstəns, ə ˌgʊd ˈdɪstəns/ [adverb]
further than usual or further than you expected :
▪ José accompanied us for some distance until we reached the highway.
▪ Their house is actually quite a distance from the edge of town.
▷ miles /maɪlz/ [adverb] informal
a very long way :
▪ We hiked miles yesterday.
miles away
▪ I don’t see Jane much any more - she lives miles away.
miles from
▪ The hotel is miles from the station - I’ll come and get you.
miles from anywhere
a long way from the nearest town
▪ They live up in the mountains, miles from anywhere.
miles and miles
▪ Around here you can walk miles and miles and never see anyone.
▷ nowhere near /ˌnəʊweəʳ ˈnɪəʳ/ [preposition]
a very long way from somewhere, further than you expect to be, or further than someone else says you are :
▪ The car was parked in the middle of the street, nowhere near the curb.
▪ After eight hours climbing, we were still nowhere near the top of the mountain.
▷ far afield /ˌfɑːr əˈfiːld/ [adverb] formal
if you travel far afield, you travel a very long way from the place where you usually live :
▪ With the car they could travel far afield each summer.
as far afield as something
▪ His work took him as far afield as Moscow and Delhi.
further/farther afield
▪ The next day we ventured farther afield and sailed out to one of the islands.
2. when something you can see or hear is far away
▷ in the distance /ɪn ðə ˈdɪstəns/ [adverb]
if you can see or hear something in the distance, it is a long way from where you are, so it looks small or does not sound loud :
▪ In the distance, he could see the tall chimneys of the factory.
▪ Dogs were barking somewhere in the distance.
▷ distant /ˈdɪstənt/ [adjective only before noun] especially written
a distant thing or noise is very far away, so that it looks small or sounds quiet :
▪ By now, the plane was just a distant speck in the sky.
▪ There was a flash of lightning and then the rumble of distant thunder.
▷ on the horizon /ɒn ðə həˈraɪz ə n/ [adverb]
at the place far away where the land or sea seems to meet the sky :
▪ Another ship appeared on the horizon.
▪ Storm clouds on the horizon were rapidly blowing in our direction.
▷ from a distance/at a distance /frəm ə ˈdɪstəns, ət ə ˈdɪstəns/ [adverb]
from a place that is a fairly long way away :
▪ From a distance, the two birds look similar.
▪ He followed her at a distance, making sure she didn’t see him.
▷ a long way off/far off/far away /ə ˌlɒŋ weɪ ˈɒfǁ-ˌlɔːŋ-, ˌfɑːr ˈɒf, ˌfɑːr əˈweɪ/ [adverb]
in a place very far from where you are now, so that it is difficult to see or hear what is there :
▪ Then, from a long way off, I heard high-pitched laughing.
▪ There was a sound of a car backfiring far off in the night.
▪ Far away, to the east, you can just see the spire of the cathedral.
▷ way off /ˌweɪ ˈɒf/ [adverb] American
far from where you are :
▪ He could hear voices from way off in another part of the house.
▪ Way off in the distance I could see a light shining.
▷ at long range /ət ˌlɒŋ ˈreɪndʒǁ-ˌlɔːŋ-/ [adverb]
if you do something at long range, especially shoot someone or something, you do it from far away :
▪ The police officer fired one shot at long range and hit the man.
▪ The guns are not nearly as accurate at long range.
3. far away from other places
▷ distant/far-off /ˈdɪstənt, ˈfɑːr ɒf/ [adjective usually before noun]
a distant or far-off town or country is a long way from where you are :
▪ Food at the fair comes from such far-off places as Brazil and Lithuania.
▪ How can we send our young men off to distant lands to die in foreign wars?
▷ faraway /ˈfɑːrəweɪ/ [adjective only before noun] written
a faraway country, especially one that you have been told about or have read about, is very far away, and different from your own country :
▪ Ed told us stories of all the faraway countries he had visited.
▪ Avis always dreamed of an exotic vacation in some faraway place.
▷ remote /rɪˈməʊt/ [adjective]
remote places are far away from other places or people, and very few people go there :
▪ They moved to a remote farmhouse in North Wales.
▪ The helicopter crashed in a remote desert area.
▷ isolated /ˈaɪsəleɪtɪd, ˈaɪsəleɪtəd/ [adjective]
a long way from other towns, buildings, or people, especially in a quiet place where you are alone :
▪ If you travel to isolated areas, make sure you have a good guide.
▪ The area is extremely isolated because of the hills that surround it.
isolation /ˌaɪsəˈleɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
▪ The community was protected from change by its isolation because it was isolated .
▷ secluded /sɪˈkluːdɪd, sɪˈkluːdəd/ [adjective]
a secluded place is private and quiet because it is a long way from other people - use this about a place where people can do what they want without being disturbed :
▪ They drove to a secluded spot in the country to have their picnic.
▪ We rented a little cabin on the edge of a secluded lake.
▷ in the middle of nowhere/miles from anywhere/in the back of beyond /ɪn ðə ˌmɪdl əv ˈnəʊweəʳ, ˌmaɪls frəm ˈeniweəʳ, ɪn ðə ˌbæk əv bɪˈjɒndǁ-ˈjɑːnd/ [adverb] informal
in a lonely place a long way from towns or villages, where you do not expect to find any houses :
▪ Amazingly, we found a really nice motel in the middle of nowhere.
▪ We were miles from anywhere and had no idea how to get back.
▷ in the boondocks/boonies /ɪn ðə ˈbuːndɒks, ˈbuːnizǁ-dɑːks/ [adverb] American informal
in a part of the country that is a long way from any town :
▪ I’m not moving to that place - it’s out in the boondocks.
▪ Gayle lives out in the boonies - it would take at least an hour to get there.
▷ out of the way /ˌaʊt əv ðə ˈweɪ◂/ [adverb]
fairly far away from any town or from where other people live, and a little difficult to find and travel to :
▪ The house is a little out of the way, but you should be able to find it.
out-of-the-way [adjective only before noun]
▪ This must be one of the most out-of-the-way places in Scotland.
▷ off the beaten track also off the beaten path American /ˌɒf ðə ˌbiːtn ˈtræk, ˌɒf ðə ˌbiːtn ˈpɑːθǁ-ˈpæθ/ [adverb]
a place that is off the beaten track or path is a long way from the places where people usually go, which usually makes it more interesting to visit :
▪ The little restaurant was so far off the beaten track that we almost didn’t find it.
▪ Greg likes to get off the beaten path and discover places that other tourists don’t find.
▷ way out /ˌweɪ ˈaʊt/ [adverb]
a long way from where you are now or far away from the nearest town :
way out in/past/beyond etc
▪ I live way out in Laurel Canyon.
▪ We drove way out past Reno to the old Fielding place.
▷ far-flung /ˌfɑːʳ ˈflʌŋ◂/ [adjective usually before noun]
far-flung places are all connected with a particular organization, country etc but they are all very far away from it :
▪ Our job is to organize the company’s far-flung offices.
▪ Participants come from nations as far-flung as Iceland and Japan.
4. too far away to reach
▷ out of reach /ˌaʊt əv ˈriːtʃ/ [adverb]
too far away to pick up or touch :
▪ Gary jumped for the ball but it was just out of reach.
out of reach of
▪ Put the food somewhere out of reach of the dog.
out of somebody’s reach/out of reach of
▪ All medicines should be kept out of children’s reach.
▷ out of range /ˌaʊt əv ˈreɪndʒ/ [adverb]
too far away to be hit by a shot from a gun :
▪ We’d better shoot now before the trucks get out of range.
out of range of
▪ Villagers are moving south, out of range of enemy gunfire.
5. travelling or reaching over a long distance
▷ long-range /ˌlɒŋ ˈreɪndʒ◂ǁˌlɔːŋ-/ [adjective only before noun]
long-range missile/gun/bomber etc
a weapon that can hit something far away :
▪ There are fears that the country has produced long-range missiles capable of reaching across the border.
▷ long-distance /ˌlɒŋ ˈdɪstəns◂ǁˌlɔːŋ-/ [adjective only before noun]
long-distance trade/transport/telephone call etc
between places that are a long way away from each other :
▪ Long-distance phone calls have gotten so much cheaper.
▪ A long-distance bus service now links the cities.
▪ The development of long-distance commerce led to greater cultural contacts between continents.
▷ long-haul /ˈlɒŋ hɔːlǁˈlɔːŋ-/ [adjective only before noun]
long-haul flight/aircraft etc
travelling long distances :
▪ It’s so much nicer to fly business class on long-haul flights.
▪ long-haul routes between Europe and Asia
6. not travelling or reaching a long distance
▷ short-range /ˌʃɔːʳt ˈreɪndʒ◂/ [adjective only before noun]
short-range missile/gun etc
a weapon that can only hit something that is a short distance away :
▪ Short-range missiles in Asia do not pose a direct threat to the U.S.
▷ short-haul /ˈʃɔːʳt hɔːl/ [adjective only before noun]
short-haul flight/aircraft etc
only travelling short distances :
▪ The airline plans to increase the number of short-haul flights between European capitals.