{
    "term": "length",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox3000": true,
    "cefr": "b1",
    "image": "data/images/di/dimensions.png",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the size or measurement of something from one end to the other",
            "sensetop": "in length",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Measure the length of the line from A to B."
                },
                {
                    "text": "to estimate/calculate/increase/reduce the length of something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The river is 300 miles in length.",
                    "contextForm": "in length"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The snake usually reaches a length of 100 cm."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Safety barriers will be installed **along the full length of **the road."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He ran **the entire length of** the beach."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Look at the length of that queue!"
                },
                {
                    "text": "He has to hold newspapers **at arm's length **to focus on the print."
                },
                {
                    "text": "This room is twice the length of the kitchen."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He measured the length and width of the table."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Measure the size of the window and cut the cloth to length."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The fence runs the length of the footpath."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The pipe was six feet in length."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The queen bee is twice the length of a worker bee."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The queue stretched the whole length of the High Street."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The vehicle has an overall length of 12 feet."
                },
                {
                    "text": "There were coloured lights along the whole length of the street."
                },
                {
                    "text": "These fish can reach a length of over five feet."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a ditch of great length and width"
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Maths and measurement"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["entire", "full", "maximum"],
                "verb + length": ["estimate", "measure", "have"],
                "preposition": ["along the length of", "in length"],
                "phrases": [
                    "at arm’s length",
                    "double, twice, three times, half, etc. the length of something"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "the quality of being long",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Did you see the length of his hair?"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "the amount of time that something lasts",
            "sensetop": "in length",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The **average length** of each song on the album is six minutes."
                },
                {
                    "text": "These changes will shorten the **length of time** spent waiting for test results."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She got a headache if she had to read **for any length of time** *(= for a long time)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Size of pension depends partly on length of service with the company."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Each class is 45 minutes in length.",
                    "contextForm": "in length"
                },
                {
                    "text": "We discussed shortening the length of the course."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Each lesson was an hour in length."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They complained about the inordinate length of time they had to wait."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Maths and measurement"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["considerable", "great", "inordinate"],
                "verb + length": ["cut", "reduce", "shorten"],
                "length + verb": ["increase", "decrease"],
                "preposition": ["at length", "in length"],
                "phrases": ["length of time"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "the amount of writing in a book, or a document, etc.; the amount of time that a film lasts",
            "sensetop": "in length",
            "cefr": "b1",
            "ox3000": true,
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "There is a maximum length of 2 500 words."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The document is over 800 pages in length.",
                    "contextForm": "in length"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Her novels vary in length."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "having the length mentioned",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "shoulder-length hair"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 6,
            "definition": "the distance from one end of a swimming pool to the other",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He swims 50 lengths a day."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I did 20 lengths today."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Sports: water sports"],
            "collocations": {
                "verb + length": ["do", "swim"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 7,
            "definition": "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",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The horse won by two clear lengths."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Sports: other sports"]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 8,
            "definition": "a long, thin piece of something",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "a length of rope/string/wire"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The timber is sold in lengths of 2, 5 or 10 metres."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a short length of wire"
                },
                {
                    "text": "long lengths of wool"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Carry a whistle and a spare length of rope."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The pipe was attached to the wall with a length of wire"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "for a long time and in detail",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He quoted at length from the report."
                },
                {
                    "text": "We have already discussed this matter at great length."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She told me at length about her new job."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "after a long time",
            "labels": "(literary)",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "‘I'm still not sure,’ he said at length."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to put a lot of effort into doing something, especially when this seems extreme",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She goes to extraordinary lengths to keep her private life private."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to avoid having a close relationship with somebody",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He keeps all his clients at arm's length."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She kept him at arm's length for months."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "in or to all parts of a place",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They have travelled the length and breadth of Europe giving concerts."
                },
                {
                    "text": "They travelled the length and breadth of the land."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/leŋkθ/",
                "audio": "le/length/length__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/leŋkθ/",
                "audio": "le/length/length__us_3.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "Old English lengthu, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lengte, also to long (adjective)."
}