/ 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).