BEFORE LONG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does before long mean? 

• BEFORE LONG (adverb)
  The adverb BEFORE LONG has 1 sense:

1. in the near future

  Familiarity information: BEFORE LONG used as an adverb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEFORE LONG (adverb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

In the near future

Synonyms:

before long; presently; shortly; soon

Context example:

we should have news before long

 Context examples 

Before long we won’t know where we are by five hundred miles.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"He will be here before long now," said Van Helsing, who had been consulting his pocket-book.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

‘Then I’ll wait in the open air, for I feel half choked,’ says he. ‘I’ll be back before long.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Before long the cat was seized by another fit of yearning.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

“By the Virgin!” said a second, “I think that you may both chance to find yourselves upon the road before long.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

No: but night will come again before long: and besides,—I am unhappy,—very unhappy, for other things.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“That's wind, sir. There'll be mischief done at sea, I expect, before long.”

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Laurie sold his busts, made allumettes of his opera, and went back to Paris, hoping somebody would arrive before long.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

I went on with my work, and before long was through that in hand.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Before long the sexton came by and saw his master, the parson, running behind three girls.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)