HOW LONG IS A PIECE OF STRING?

Meaning of HOW LONG IS A PIECE OF STRING? in English

( BrE , informal ) used to say that there is no definite answer to a question :

'How long will it take?' 'How long's a piece of string?'

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary. Оксфордский английский словарь для изучающик язык на продвинутом уровне. 2005

LONG
Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary
HOW — qualmen. HOW MUCH, HOW MANY: quant
English interlingue dictionary
LONG — [c mediumvioletred] (as used in expressions) Long Beach Long Island Long Island Sound long jump Long March Long Parliament Long …
Английский словарь Британика
STRING — I. ˈstriŋ noun ( -s ) Etymology: Middle English streng, string, from Old English streng; akin to Middle Dutch strenge, …
Webster's New International English Dictionary
PIECE — I. ˈpēs noun ( -s ) Etymology: Middle English pece, piece, from Old French, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin pettia, from …
Webster's New International English Dictionary
LONG — I. ˈlȯŋ also ˈläŋ adjective ( lon·ger -ŋgə(r) ; lon·gest -ŋgə̇st) Etymology: Middle English long, lang, from Old English; akin …
Webster's New International English Dictionary
HOW — I. (|)hau̇ adverb Etymology: Middle English hou, how, adv & conjunction, from Old English hū; akin to Old Frisian hū, …
Webster's New International English Dictionary
HOW — (adv.) At what price; how dear.
Английский словарь Webster
HOW — ( adv. ) At what price; how dear.
Webster's Revised Unabridged English Dictionary
STRING — — stringless , adj. — stringlike , adj. /string/ , n. , v. , strung; strung or ( Rare ) …
Random House Webster's Unabridged English Dictionary
PIECE
Random House Webster's Unabridged English Dictionary
LONG — long 1 — longly , adv. — longness , n. /lawng, long/ , adj. longer /lawng"geuhr, long"-/ , longest /lawng"gist, …
Random House Webster's Unabridged English Dictionary
HOW — how 1 /how/ , adv. 1. in what way or manner; by what means?: How did the accident happen? 2. …
Random House Webster's Unabridged English Dictionary
STRING — I. ˈstriŋ noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English streng; akin to Old High German strang rope, Latin stringere to …
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary
LONG — I. ˈlȯŋ adjective ( lon·ger lȯŋ-gər also -ər ; lon·gest ˈlȯŋ-gəst also -əst) Etymology: Middle English long, lang, from Old …
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary
HOW — I. ˈhau̇ adverb Etymology: Middle English, from Old English hū; akin to Old High German hwuo how, Old English hwā …
Merriam-Webster's Collegiate English vocabulary
STRING — noun the line or cord of a bow. 2. string ·noun the points made in a game. 3. string ·noun …
Webster English vocab
PIECE — noun a castle; a fortified building. 2. piece ·noun one of the superior men, distinguished from a pawn. 3. piece …
Webster English vocab
LONG — superl far-reaching; extensive. 2. long ·noun a long sound, syllable, or vowel. 3. long ·adv through the whole extent or …
Webster English vocab
HOW — adv at what price; how dear. 2. how ·adv for what reason; from what cause. 3. how ·adv by what …
Webster English vocab
STRING — [string] n [ME, fr. OE streng; akin to OHG strang rope, L stringere to bind tight--more at strain] (bef. 12c) …
Merriam-Webster English vocab
HOW — [how] adv [ME, fr. OE hu; akin to OHG hwuo how, OE hwa who--more at who] (bef. 12c) 1 a: …
Merriam-Webster English vocab
LONG — long, Long BrE AmE lɒŋ AmE lɔːŋ lɑːŋ ▷ longed lɒŋd AmE lɔːŋd lɑːŋd ▷ longer ˈlɒŋ ɡə AmE ˈlɔːŋ …
Longman Pronunciation English Dictionary
HOW — how BrE AmE haʊ ▶ ˌ How ˈ are you? (greeting) BrE AmE ▶ ( ˈ Fine.) ˌ How are …
Longman Pronunciation English Dictionary
STRING — / strɪŋ; NAmE / noun , verb , adjective ■ noun FOR TYING / FASTENING 1. [ U , C …
Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
PIECE
Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
LONG — / lɒŋ; NAmE lɔːŋ/ adjective , adverb , verb ■ adjective ( long·er / ˈlɒŋgə(r); NAmE ˈlɔːŋ-/ long·est / ˈlɒŋgɪst; …
Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
HOW — / haʊ; NAmE / adverb 1. in what way or manner : How does it work? He did not know …
Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
STRING — I. string 1 S3 W2 /strɪŋ/ BrE AmE noun [ Language: Old English ; Origin: streng ] 1 . THREAD …
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
PIECE
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
LONG — I. long 1 S1 W1 /lɒŋ $ lɒːŋ/ BrE AmE adjective ( comparative longer , superlative longest ) [ Language: …
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
HOW — how S1 W1 /haʊ/ BrE AmE adverb [ Language: Old English ; Origin: hu ] 1 . used to ask …
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
STRING — n. & v. --n. 1 twine or narrow cord. 2 a piece of this or of similar material used for …
Английский основной разговорный словарь
PIECE — n. & v. --n. 1 a (often foll. by of) one of the distinct portions forming part of or broken …
Английский основной разговорный словарь
LONG — adj., n., & adv. --adj. (longer; longest) 1 measuring much from end to end in space or time; not soon …
Английский основной разговорный словарь
HOW — adv., conj., & n. --interrog. adv. 1 by what means, in what way (how do you do it?; tell me …
Английский основной разговорный словарь
STRING — n. & v. n. 1 twine or narrow cord. 2 a piece of this or of similar material used for …
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
PIECE — n. & v. n. 1 a (often foll. by of) one of the distinct portions forming part of or broken …
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
LONG — adj., n., & adv. adj. (longer; longest) 1 measuring much from end to end in space or time; not soon …
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
HOW — adv., conj., & n. interrog. adv. 1 by what means, in what way (how do you do it?; tell me …
Concise Oxford English Dictionary
STRING — n. & v. --n. 1. twine or narrow cord. 2 a piece of this or of similar material used for …
Oxford English vocab
PIECE — n. & v. --n. 1. a (often foll. by of) one of the distinct portions forming part of or broken …
Oxford English vocab
LONG — 1. adj., n., & adv. --adj. (longer; longest) 1. measuring much from end to end in space or time; not …
Oxford English vocab
HOW — 1. adv., conj., & n. --interrog. adv. 1. by what means, in what way (how do you do it?; tell …
Oxford English vocab
LONG — I. TIME /lɒŋ, AM lɔ:ŋ/ ( longer /lɒŋgə(r), AM lɔ:ŋgər/ , longest /lɒŋgɪst, AM lɔ:ŋgɪst/ ) Frequency: The word is …
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
STRING — ( strings, stringing, strung) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. String is …
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
PIECE — ( pieces, piecing, pieced) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A piece …
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
HOW — The conjunction is pronounced /haʊ/. Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You …
Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary
HOW — Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. You use ~ to ask about …
Collins COBUILD - Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык
STRING — I. noun COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a string of failures (= a series of failures ) ▪ The team has …
Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary
PIECE
Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary
IS — COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES a baby is born ▪ Let me know as soon as the baby is born. a …
Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary
HOW
Longman DOCE5 Extras English vocabulary
PIECE
Cambridge English vocab
LONG — (TIME) [adjective] -er, -est - being an amount of time which is more than average or usualIn England in the …
Cambridge English vocab
HOW — [adverb] [not gradable], [conjunction] - in what way; by what methodsHow do we get to the town from here?How did …
Cambridge English vocab
LONG — n. long range navigation Long Beach Long Island Long Island Sound long jump Long March Long Parliament Long Huey Pierce …
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
STRING — Synonyms and related words : A string, Amati, Cremona, D string, E string, G string, Indian file, Strad, Stradivari, Stradivarius, …
Moby Thesaurus English vocabulary
PIECE
Moby Thesaurus English vocabulary
LONG — Synonyms and related words : a mile long, ache, ache for, ache to, aeon, age, ages, aim, and night, aspire, …
Moby Thesaurus English vocabulary
LONG — n. as long as by a long shot by long odds long drawn out long green long lasting long lived …
Collegiate Thesaurus English vocab
PIECE — INDEX: 1. a part of something that has been separated from the rest 2. a piece that has a regular …
Longman Activator English vocab
LONG
Longman Activator English vocab
LONG — See ↑ LONG 1,2,5,6,7, ↑ TIME 10, ↑ WANT/NOT WANT 4 ◆◆◆ • ↑ all day/night/summer etc long • ↑ …
Longman Activator English vocab

Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary

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