Longing


[lawng-ing, long-] /ˈlɔŋ ɪŋ, ˈlɒŋ-/

noun
1.
strong, persistent desire or craving, especially for something unattainable or distant:
filled with longing for home.
2.
an instance of this:
a sudden longing to see old friends.
adjective
3.
having or characterized by persistent or earnest desire:
a longing look.
[lawng, long] /lɔŋ, lɒŋ/
verb (used without object)
1.
to have an earnest or strong desire or craving; yearn:
to long for spring; to long to return home.
[lawng, long] /lɔŋ, lɒŋ/
verb (used without object)
1.
Archaic. to be suitable or fitting.
2.
Obsolete. to be the possession; belong.
/ˈlɒŋɪŋ/
noun
1.
a prolonged unfulfilled desire or need
adjective
2.
having or showing desire or need: a longing look
/lɒŋ/
adjective
1.
having relatively great extent in space on a horizontal plane
2.
having relatively great duration in time
3.

4.
having or consisting of a relatively large number of items or parts: a long list
5.
having greater than the average or expected range: a long memory
6.
being the longer or longest of alternatives: the long way to the bank
7.
having more than the average or usual quantity, extent, or duration: a long match
8.
seeming to occupy a greater time than is really so: she spent a long afternoon waiting in the departure lounge
9.
intense or thorough (esp in the phrase a long look)
10.
(of drinks) containing a large quantity of nonalcoholic beverage
11.
(of a garment) reaching to the wearer’s ankles
12.
(informal) (foll by on) plentifully supplied or endowed (with): long on good ideas
13.
(phonetics, of a speech sound, esp a vowel)

14.
from end to end; lengthwise
15.
unlikely to win, happen, succeed, etc: a long chance
16.
(prosody)

17.
(finance) having or characterized by large holdings of securities or commodities in anticipation of rising prices: a long position
18.
(cricket) (of a fielding position) near the boundary: long leg
19.
(informal) (of people) tall and slender
20.
in the long run, See run (sense 82)
21.
(informal) long in the tooth, old or ageing
adverb
22.
for a certain time or period: how long will it last?
23.
for or during an extensive period of time: long into the next year
24.
at a distant time; quite a bit of time: long before I met you, long ago
25.
(finance) into a position with more security or commodity holdings than are required by sale contracts and therefore dependent on rising prices for profit: to go long
26.
as long as, so long as

27.
no longer, not any more; formerly but not now
noun
28.
a long time (esp in the phrase for long)
29.
a relatively long thing, such as a signal in Morse code
30.
a clothing size for tall people, esp in trousers
31.
(phonetics) a long vowel or syllable
32.
(finance) a person with large holdings of a security or commodity in expectation of a rise in its price; bull
33.
(music) a note common in medieval music but now obsolete, having the time value of two breves
34.
before long, soon
35.
the long and the short of it, the essential points or facts
/lɒŋ/
verb
1.
(intransitive; foll by for or an infinitive) to have a strong desire
/lɒŋ/
verb
1.
(intransitive) (archaic) to belong, appertain, or be appropriate
abbreviation
1.
longitude
/lɒŋ/
noun
1.
Crawford Williamson. 1815–78, US surgeon. He was the first to use ether as an anaesthetic
n.

“yearning, desire,” Old English langung “longing, weariness, sadness, dejection,” from long (v.). Related: Longingly.
adj.

“that extends considerably from end to end,” Old English lang “long,” from Proto-Germanic *langgaz (cf. Old Frisian and Old Saxon lang, Old High German and German lang, Old Norse langr, Middle Dutch lanc, Dutch lang, Gothic laggs “long”).

The Germanic words are perhaps from PIE *dlonghos- (cf. Latin longus, Old Persian darga-, Persian dirang, Sanskrit dirghah, Greek dolikhos “long,” Greek endelekhes “perpetual,” Latin indulgere “to indulge”), from root *del- “long.”

The adverb is from Old English lange, longe, from the adjective. No longer “not as formerly” is from c.1300; to be not long for this world “soon to die” is from 1714.

The word illustrates the Old English tendency for short “a” to become short “o” before -n- (also retained in bond/band and West Midlands dialectal lond from land and hond from hand).

Long vowels (c.1000) originally were pronounced for an extended time. Sporting long ball is from 1744, originally in cricket. Long jump as a sporting event is attested from 1864. A ship’s long-boat so called from 1510s. Long knives, name Native Americans gave to white settlers (originally in Virginia/Kentucky) is from 1774. Long in the tooth (1841 of persons) is from horses showing age by recession of gums. Long time no see, imitative of American Indian speech, is first recorded 1900. To be long on something, “have a lot” of it, is from 1900, American English slang.
v.

Old English langian “to yearn after, grieve for,” literally “to grow long, lengthen,” from Proto-Germanic *langojanan (see long (adj.)). Cognate with Old Norse langa, Old Saxon langon, Middle Dutch langhen, Old High German langen “to long,” German verlangen “to desire.” Related: Longed; longing.

Long (lông), Crawford Williamson. 1815-1878.

American surgeon and pioneer anesthetist who was among the first (1842) to use ether as an anesthetic.

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