LENGTH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does length mean? 

• LENGTH (noun)
  The noun LENGTH has 5 senses:

1. the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place

2. continuance in time

3. the property of being the extent of something from beginning to end

4. size of the gap between two places

5. a section of something that is long and narrow

  Familiarity information: LENGTH used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LENGTH (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the length of the table was 5 feet

Hypernyms ("length" is a kind of...):

physical property (any property used to characterize matter and energy and their interactions)

dimension (the magnitude of something in a particular direction (especially length or width or height))

fundamental measure; fundamental quantity (one of the four quantities that are the basis of systems of measurement)

Attribute:

long (primarily spatial sense; of relatively great or greater than average spatial extension or extension as specified)

short ((primarily spatial sense) having little length or lacking in length)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "length"):

longness (the property of being of long spatial extent)

shortness (the property of being of short spatial extent)

r; radius (the length of a line segment between the center and circumference of a circle or sphere)

diam; diameter (the length of a straight line passing through the center of a circle and connecting two points on the circumference)

circumference (the length of the closed curve of a circle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Continuance in time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

duration; length

Context example:

he complained about the length of time required

Hypernyms ("length" is a kind of...):

temporal property (a property relating to time)

Attribute:

long (primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified)

short (primarily temporal sense; indicating or being or seeming to be limited in duration)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "length"):

continuation; lengthiness; prolongation; protraction (the consequence of being lengthened in duration)

endlessness (the property of being (or seeming to be) without end)

shortness (the property of being of short temporal extent)

brevity; briefness; transience (the attribute of being brief or fleeting)

permanence; permanency (the property of being able to exist for an indefinite duration)

impermanence; impermanency (the property of not existing for indefinitely long durations)

longness (duration as an extension)

Derivation:

lengthy (relatively long in duration; tediously protracted)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The property of being the extent of something from beginning to end

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

the editor limited the length of my article to 500 words

Hypernyms ("length" is a kind of...):

extent (the distance or area or volume over which something extends)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Size of the gap between two places

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

distance; length

Context example:

he determined the length of the shortest line segment joining the two points

Hypernyms ("length" is a kind of...):

size (the physical magnitude of something (how big it is))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "length"):

leg ((nautical) the distance traveled by a sailing vessel on a single tack)

arm's length (a distance sufficient to exclude intimacy)

gauge (the distance between the rails of a railway or between the wheels of a train)

light time (distance measured in terms of the speed of light (or radio waves))

skip distance (the shortest distance that permits radio signals (of a given frequency) to travel from the transmitter to the receiver by reflection from the ionosphere)

wingspan; wingspread (linear distance between the extremities of an airfoil)

wingspread (distance between the tips of the wings (as of a bird or insect) when fully extended)

altitude (the perpendicular distance from the base of a geometric figure to the opposite vertex (or side if parallel))

Sense 5

Meaning:

A section of something that is long and narrow

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

a length of tubing

Hypernyms ("length" is a kind of...):

section; segment (one of several parts or pieces that fit with others to constitute a whole object)

 Context examples 

They at length agreed that the person should be chosen as pope who should be distinguished by some divine and miraculous token.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

The jet's trajectory is just slightly offset from our line of sight with respect to the galaxy, so we can still see some of the length of the jet.

(The Giant Galaxy Around the Giant Black Hole, NASA)

He had been looking two minutes at the fire, and I had been looking the same length of time at him, when, turning suddenly, he caught my gaze fastened on his physiognomy.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

At length, much to my relief, my aunt and Mr. Wickfield came back, after a pretty long absence.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Human ACP1 wild-type allele is located in the vicinity of 2p25 and is approximately 23 kb in length.

(ACP1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Human ACOX2 wild-type allele is located in the vicinity of 3p14.3 and is approximately 32 kb in length.

(ACOX2 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

They are usually wrapped in straw, you know, and are thinner for their length than any other brand.

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

It was at least two feet in length, a curved bone, with a membranous veil beneath it.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Her beam, or width, is twenty-three feet, and her length a little over ninety feet.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Naiad and Thalassa are small and shaped like Tic Tacs, spanning only about 60 miles (100 kilometers) in length.

(NASA Finds Neptune Moons Locked in 'Dance of Avoidance', NASA)