length — OET · Shobdo

length

noun

1 some of these amphibians grew to a length of three or four metres | from the plane she was able to see the whole length of the valley:

extent, extent lengthwise, distance, distance lengthwise, linear measure, span, reach;

area, expanse, stretch, range, scope.

2 there has been a tremendous increase in the length of time spent on remand:

period, duration, stretch, term, span.

3 a length of pale blue silk:

piece, swatch, portion, section, measure, segment, roll.

4 MPs criticized the length of the speech:

protractedness, lengthiness, extent, extensiveness, elongation;

prolixity, prolixness, wordiness, verbosity, verboseness, long-windedness.

▷antonyms conciseness, brevity.

□ at length

1 he spoke at length of his suitability for the job:

for a long time, for ages, for hours, on and on, interminably, endlessly, incessantly, ceaselessly, constantly, continually, unendingly, eternally, forever.

▷antonyms briefly.

2 when questioned at length he insisted he had no links with terrorists:

thoroughly, fully, in detail, in depth, comprehensively, exhaustively, completely, extensively, to the fullest extent.

3 his search had led him, at length, to the headquarters in Seattle:

after a long time, after a considerable time, eventually, in time, in the long run, in the fullness of time;

finally, at last, at long last, lastly, in the end, ultimately, in conclusion.

▷antonyms immediately, straight away.

□ go to any lengths (also go to any length)

they'll go to any lengths to obtain money to buy drugs:

do absolutely anything, go to any extreme, go to any limits, observe no limits.

length Oxford Dictionary of English