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Long vs Old - What's the difference?

long | old |

As nouns the difference between long and old

is that long is hair; fur; coat while old is age.

long

English

(wikipedia long)

Etymology 1

From (etyl) long, lang, from (etyl) longe, long, .

Adjective

(er)
  • Having much distance from one terminating point on an object or an area to another terminating point .
  • :
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=We expressed our readiness, and in ten minutes were in the station wagon, rolling rapidly down the long drive, for it was then after nine. We passed on the way the van of the guests from Asquith.}}
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=17 citation , passage=The face which emerged was not reassuring. […]. He was not a mongol but there was a deficiency of a sort there, and it was not made more pretty by a latter-day hair cut which involved eccentrically long elf-locks and oiled black curls.}}
  • Having great duration.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Out of the gloom , passage=[Rural solar plant] schemes are of little help to industry or other heavy users of electricity. Nor is solar power yet as cheap as the grid. For all that, the rapid arrival of electric light to Indian villages is long overdue. When the national grid suffers its next huge outage, as it did in July 2012 when hundreds of millions were left in the dark, look for specks of light in the villages.}}
  • Seemingly lasting a lot of time, because it is boring or tedious or tiring.
  • *1877 , (Anna Sewell), (Black Beauty), Chapter 23
  • *:What I suffered with that rein for four long months in my lady's carriage, it would be hard to describe, but I am quite sure that, had it lasted much longer, either my health or my temper would have given way.
  • *
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2 , passage=I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town. I was completely mystified at such an unusual proceeding.}}
  • Not short; tall.
  • *
  • *:The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.
  • (label) Possessing or owning stocks, bonds, commodities or other financial instruments with the aim of benefiting of the expected rise in their value.
  • :
  • (label) Of a fielding position, close to the boundary (or closer to the boundary than the equivalent short position).
  • That land beyond the baseline (and therefore is out ).
  • :
  • (label) Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.
  • *(Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
  • *:That we may us reserve both fresh and strong / Against the tournament, which is not long .
  • Usage notes
    * Wide'' is usually used instead of ''long when referring to a horizontal dimension (left to right). * Tall'' or ''high'' are usually used instead of ''long'' when referring to positive vertical dimension (upwards), and ''deep when referring to negative vertical dimension (downwards).
    Synonyms
    * (having much distance from one point to another) deep (vertically downwards), extended, high (vertically upwards), lengthy, tall * (having great duration) extended, lengthy, prolonged
    Antonyms
    * (having much distance from one point to another) low (vertically upwards), shallow (vertically upwards or downwards), short * (having great duration) brief, short * (finance) short
    Derived terms
    * * as the day is long * daylong, dayslong * long arm of the law * long game * long gun * longhand * long-haul * long paddock * long pig * long row to hoe * long shot * long vehicle * long-waisted * long white radish * the long and short * yearlong, yearslong

    Adverb

    (er)
  • Over a great distance in space.
  • For a particular duration.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= David Van Tassel], [http://www.americanscientist.org/authors/detail/lee-dehaan Lee DeHaan
  • , title= Wild Plants to the Rescue , volume=101, issue=3, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Plant breeding is always a numbers game.
  • For a long duration.
  • * 1594 , (William Shakespeare), i 3
  • I stay too long : but here my father comes.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title= “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=Ep./4/2
  • , passage=The world was awake to the 2nd of May, but Mayfair is not the world, and even the menials of Mayfair lie long abed.}}
  • *
  • Synonyms
    * (over a great distance) a long way, far * (for a long duration) a long time
    Antonyms
    * (over a great distance) a short distance, a short way * (for a long duration) an instant, a minute, a moment, a second, a short time, not long
    See also
    * far * wide * broad

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (linguistics) A long vowel.
  • (programming) A long integer variable, twice the size of an int or a short and half of a long long.
  • A long is typically 64 bits in a 32-bit environment.
  • (finance) An entity with a long position in an asset.
  • Every uptick made the longs cheer.
  • (music) A note formerly used in music, one half the length of a large, twice that of a breve.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • (finance) To take a long position in.
  • *
  • See also
    * broad * wide

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) longen, from (etyl) .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To await, to aspire, to desire greatly (something to occur or to be true)
  • She longed for him to come back.
  • * 1922 , (Margery Williams), (The Velveteen Rabbit)
  • The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad.
    Usage notes
    * This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive . See
    Synonyms
    * (desire greatly) ache, yearn
    Derived terms
    * longing

    Etymology 3

    Aphetic form of (etyl) gelang; the verb later reinterpreted as an aphetic form of belong.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • (archaic) On account of, because of.
  • * 1603 , (John Florio), translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays , II.8:
  • I am of opinion that in regard of these debauches and lewd actions, fathers may, in some sort, be blamed, and that it is only long of them.

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (archaic) To be appropriate to, to pertain or belong to.
  • * 1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.3:
  • A goodly Armour, and full rich aray, / Which long'd to Angela, the Saxon Queene, / All fretted round with gold, and goodly wel beseene.
  • * about 1591 , (William Shakespeare), The Taming of the Shrew , IV, 4:
  • Tis well, and hold your owne in any case / With such austeritie as longeth to a father.

    old

    English

    (wikipedia old)

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Of an object, concept, relationship, etc., having existed for a relatively long period of time.
  • :
  • *
  • *:They burned the old gun that used to stand in the dark corner up in the garret, close to the stuffed fox that always grinned so fiercely. Perhaps the reason why he seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
  • #Of a living being, having lived for most of the expected years.
  • #:
  • #Of a perishable item, having existed for most, or more than its shelf life.
  • #:
  • Of an item that has been used and so is not new (unused).
  • :
  • Having existed or lived for the specified time.
  • :
  • :
  • (lb) Of an earlier time.
  • #Former, previous.
  • #:
  • #*
  • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8 , passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.}}
  • #*1994 , Michael Grumley, Life Drawing
  • #*:But over my old life, a new life had formed.
  • #That is no longer in existence.
  • #:
  • #Obsolete; out-of-date.
  • #:
  • #Familiar.
  • #:
  • Tiresome.
  • :
  • Said of subdued colors, particularly reds, pinks and oranges, as if they had faded over time.
  • A grammatical intensifier, often used in describing something positive. (Mostly in idioms like good old, big old and little old, any old and some old.)
  • :
  • (lb) Excessive, abundant.
  • *1599 , (William Shakespeare), (Much Ado About Nothing) , :
  • *:URSULA: Madam, you must come to your uncle. Yonder's old coil at home: it is proved, my Lady Hero hath been falsely accused, the prince and Claudio mightily abused;
  • Synonyms

    * (having existed for a long period of time) ancient, long in the tooth * (having lived for many years) aged, ageing / aging, elderly, long in the tooth, on in years * (having existed or lived for the specified time) aged, of age * (former) erstwhile, ex-, former, one-time, past * (out-of-date) antiquated, obsolete (words) * See also

    Antonyms

    * (having existed for a long period of time) brand new, fresh, new * (having lived for many years) young * (former) current, latest, new

    Derived terms

    * age-old * any old * big old * good old * little old * old age * old-age * Old Akkadian * Old Armenian * Old Assyrian * old as the hills * Old Babylonian * Old Blighty * Old Bulgarian * Old Church Slavic * Old Church Slavonic * old college try * old country * Old Czech * Old Dutch * olden * Old Egyptian * Old English * old fart * old-fashioned * old flame * Old Flemish * old fogey * old franc * Old Franconian * Old Frankish * Old French * Old Frisian * Old Glory * old gold * old growth * old guard * old hand * old hat * Old High German * Old Icelandic * oldies * Old Indic * Old Indo-Aryan * Old Ionic * Old Iranian * Old Irish * old lace * old lady * Old Latin * Old Low Franconian * Old Low Frankish * Old Low German * old maid * old man * old money * Old Nick * Old Norse * Old North French * Old Norwegian * old penny * Old Persian * * Old Prussian * old regime * Old Russian * olds * old salt * old saw * Old Saxon * Old Scandinavian * old school * Old Slavic * Old Slavonic * old sweat * Old Testament * old-time * old-timer * Old Welsh * old woman * Old World * old-world * over-old * same old same old * same old story * some old * you can't put an old head on young shoulders

    Noun

    (usually used as plural)
  • People who are old; old beings; the older generation; usually used with the .
  • A civilised society should always look after the old in the community.

    Statistics

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