LENGTH


Meaning of LENGTH in English

/ leŋθ; NAmE / noun

SIZE / MEASUREMENT

1.

[ U , C ] the size or measurement of sth from one end to the other :

This room is twice the length of the kitchen.

The river is 300 miles in length .

The snake usually reaches a length of 100 cm.

He ran the entire length of the beach (= from one end to the other).

Did you see the length of his hair?

—picture at dimension

—compare breadth , width

TIME

2.

[ U , C ] the amount of time that sth lasts :

We discussed shortening the length of the course.

He was disgusted at the length of time he had to wait.

She got a headache if she had to read for any length of time (= for a long time) .

Size of pension depends partly on length of service with the company.

Each class is 45 minutes in length .

OF BOOK / MOVIE

3.

[ U , C ] the amount of writing in a book, or a document, etc.; the amount of time that a film / movie lasts :

Her novels vary in length.

-LENGTH

4.

(in adjectives) having the length mentioned :

shoulder-length hair

—see also full-length , knee-length

OF SWIMMING POOL

5.

[ C ] the distance from one end of a swimming pool to the other :

He swims 50 lengths a day.

—compare width

IN RACE

6.

[ C ] the size of a horse or boat from one end to the other, when it is used to measure the distance between two horses or boats taking part in a race :

The horse won by two clear lengths.

LONG THIN PIECE

7.

[ C ] a long thin piece of sth :

a length of rope / string / wire

—see also long adjective

IDIOMS

- at length | at ... length

- go to any, some, great, etc. lengths (to do sth)

- the length and breadth of ...

—more at arm noun

••

WORD ORIGIN

Old English lengthu , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lengte , also to long (adjective).

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