1.long用作动词时意思是“渴望”“极想”,指一个人全心全意地、极为诚恳地期望得到某种东西,尤指遥远的、难以得到的东西。
2.long用作不及物动词时常与介词for连用,并常接动词不定式作目的状语。

long for(v.+prep.)
渴望;羡慕 desire earnestly;wish for very much
▲long for sb/sth
He longed for his mother.他非常想念他母亲。
He has been longing for her ever since she left.自她走后,他一直在想念她。
You seem to be longing for me in saying something.好像你很想听我说些什么。
There is no one but longs for success.没有人不希望成功。
She is longing for home.她渴望回家。
The children are longing for the holidays.孩子们渴望假日的到来。
I'm longing for an icy cold beer. Aren't you?我很想来一瓶冰镇啤酒,你不想也来一瓶吗?
It has rained for five days in succession, so we are longing for some sunshine.已连续下了五天的雨,因此,我们渴望着出太阳。
I long for the day when my dreams can come true.我渴望有一天能够梦想成真。
I long for the time when I don't have to work as hard as this.我渴望能不像现在这样劳累。
So this is what you've been longing for.哦,这就是你一直所渴求的东西。
◇ 用于be ～ed结构
A swift change is longed for, but unlikely.人们期盼着更快的变化,但不太可能。
▲long for sb to-v
I long for him to write me often. 我盼他常给我写信。
I'm longing for him to arrive.我迫切希望他来。
She longed for her husband to say something.她渴望她的丈夫能说些什么。
He longs for her to come back to him.他热切希望她回到他身边。

用作不及物动词
▲S+～+to-v
We are longing to see you.我们极想见到你。
Ever since then I've been longing to meet him face to face.从那时起我一直渴望和他面对面地聚会。

long for, ache for, die for, hunger for, sigh for, starve for, thirst for
参见ache条。
long, pine, yearn
参见pine条。

long有时也可用作及物动词,接表示希望或愿望的that从句,谓语多由will或may构成。例如:
We longed that we could see our own country.我们迫切希望看到自己的国家。
I long that she may come this afternoon.我盼她今天下午能来。

［同义词］ adj.  lengthy, spread,  stretched v.  desire, yearn
［反义词］ adj.  brief, fleeting, short
［词源］  ＜中古英语 ＜古英语long(长的,长期的)

1.long作名词是“长时间,长时期”的意思,是不可数名词。
2.for long的意思是“长久”,常用于否定句或疑问句中。

before long
不久 soon
I hope to see you before long.我希望不久就看见你。
He will arrive before long.他不久会到的。
She's asking for trouble and she'll get it before long.她是在自讨苦吃,不久她就会真遇上麻烦的。
It was a thankless job, so we choked him off before long.那是一件吃力不讨好的事情,所以我们很快就不让他做了。
The face of the town will be completely changed before long.这个城镇的面貌不久将彻底改变。
We watched carefully and before long caught out the suspect.我们留神观察,不久就发觉这个可疑的人在做坏事。
Tom's lessons were too difficult for him and before long he fell behind the rest of the class.汤姆的课程对他来说太难,不久他就落后于班上的其他同学。

take long
花时间干某事 cost time to do sth
The work won't take long.这工作不会花太长时间。
To go on foot would take long.步行将很费时间。
He always takes so long to eat his breakfast.他总是费这么多时间吃早餐。

the long and the short of it
概括 an abbreviated account
Well,the long and the short of the matter is he wanted to use your bike for a day or two, but was too shy to say so.总之,他是想借你的自行车用一两天,不过就是不好意思开口。
We had a lot of trouble with the car and traffic, and the long and the short of it is we were six hours late arriving there.我们的车和交通都遇到了很多麻烦。总之,我们晚了6个小时到达那里。

Were you there for long?你到那儿很久了吗?
Shall you be away for long?你得离开很久吗?
He was imprisoned for long.他被监禁在牢里很久了。
I can't stay for long.我呆不了多久。
Shall I have long to wait?我要等很长时间吗?

long before, before long
参见before条。

long有时还可用作可数名词,意思是“长音节”。例如:
The poem has four longs and six shorts.这首诗有四个长音节和六个短音节。

1.long的基本意思是“长的”,可表示时间和距离的长短或长度,也可表示书籍、信件、故事之类的内容的长短。
2.long在句中可作定语,也可作表语。

a long haul
持久而艰苦的活动 long and difficult activity, etc.
It's been a long haul but at last this dictionary is published.经过千辛万苦,这部字典才终于得以问世。

at the longest
最多,最长 not longer than the specified time
He's only away for short periods, a week at the longest.他只是短期外出,最多一周。

long odds
极小的可能性 a remote chance
We have put in a bid for a government contract, but there are long odds on our getting it.我们已投标,以求与政府签订合同,但成功的可能性极小。

用作定语
▲～+n.
The pupils have two long holidays every year.学生们每年有两次长假。
His long illness and consequent absence from school delayed his progress of study.他长时间生病以及随后的缺课耽搁了他的学业。
They have begun the long and tiresome grind of preparing themselves for college entrance.他们已经开始考大学前那种长期而劳累地埋头苦学了。
There was a long interval before he replied.一段长时间的间隔之后,他才做答复。
After a long separation, they held a glad meeting.阔别多年之后,他们举行了一个令人愉快的聚会。
We succeeded in winning the contract, but for a long time, we were sailing against the wind, and were doubtful of our success.我们终于签订了那份合同,但在很长一段时间里我们一直遇到重重阻力,以致不敢相信自己能获得成功。
After a long hunt for him, we saw him emerging from the crowd.我们找了他半天之后,看见他从人群里出来了。
By all appearance the strike will go on for a long time.显然这次罢工要持续很长时间。
The amount of coal of this country will be exhaustible within not a long time.这个国家的煤储藏量在不久的将来就会用尽。
For a long period of time Latin was the literary language of Italy.有很长一段时间,拉丁语是意大利的文学语言。
The long war exhausted our country in the nineteenth century.在19世纪,长期的战争使我们的国家民穷财尽。
The long journey knocked her up.长途旅行把她累坏了。
She had been away on a long trip.她曾旅行到过很远的地方。
They were unused to walking long distance.他们不习惯长距离的步行。
It was a terrible grind getting up that long hill.爬上那个漫长的斜坡令人极度劳累。
She plays a very dramatic woman with flashing eyes and a long black dress.她饰演一位身着黑色长装、双眼闪光的引人注目的妇人。
The plot is rather thin for such a long story.对这样长的故事来说,这个情节显得太单薄了。
That long talk healed many differences.那次长谈消除了很多分歧。
A long talk is tedious.冗长的谈话令人生厌。
It is a long shot but I think John must have known about the murder.虽然这只是个猜测,但我认为约翰对这件谋杀案一定知情。
用作表语
▲S+be+～
Your car is longer than mine.你的汽车比我的长。
It's an hour long.这有一个钟头之久。
The garden is 20 metres long and 15 metres wide.这个花园有20米长,15米宽。
The house is 40 feet long and 20 feet broad.这屋长40英尺,宽30英尺。
This new railway is four hundred kilometres long.这条新铁路有400公里长。
▲S+be+～+on n.
He is long on brains.他头脑聪明。
He is long on hope.他有很多希望。
▲S+be+～+(in) v-ing
You have been long fetching the car.你去取车子已经很久了。
I won't be long unpacking.我很快就会把行李打开。
He was a long time writing a letter.他竟花了半天才写出一封信。
He won't be long making up his mind.他很快就会作决定。
Spring is long in coming.春天姗姗来迟。
He is long in returning.他迟迟归来。

1.long用作副词时，其基本意思是“长久地”,主要用于修饰静态动词,表示时间延续之长。
2.long还可作“久远地”解,表示动作发生于很久之前或之后,一般位于副词或介词短语之前。

as〔so〕 long as
1.只要,如果 on condition that;provided that, if
I'll love you as long as I breathe.只要我还活着,我一定爱你。
As long as he was physically able, he went to work in the fields.只要身体能行,他就下田干活。
The employer cheated the workers into the belief that they could earn 30,000 yuan a year as long as they worked hard.老板哄骗工人们相信：只要他们努力工作,一年可以挣到3万元。
I suppose you can forbid her as long as she is under age.我认为只要她不到成年,你就可以阻止她。
You can't be defeated as long as you hold together.只要你们团结起来,就不会被打败。
The shop will give a discount of ten percent as long as you don't want credit but pay on the nail.要是你不赊账而即刻付钱,商店可以打9折。
2.既然,由于 since
You may stay here as long as you like.你高兴在这儿呆多久就呆多久。

no longer
不再,已不 after a certain point in time
He's no longer living here.他已不住此处。
He was long a famous musician, but he plays no longer.他成为有名的音乐家已很久了,但他现在不演奏了。
Our products are no longer competitive in world markets.我们的产品在世界市场上不再具有竞争力了。
The city's water supply is no longer adequate for its need.这个城市的供水已不能满足需求。

用作状语
My grandpa has long thought of retiring at 80.我祖父早就想在80岁退休。
I've long wanted to meet her.我很久以来就想见她。
He remained long in London.他在伦敦呆了很久。
He stayed up long after midnight.午夜以后,他久久没睡。
I have long been cherishing the hope of visiting Beijing.我很久以来一直想参观北京。
They had not been married long when her husband was ordered abroad.她丈夫受命出国时,他们结婚还没多久。
He said that he had seen a tiger long before.他说他很久以前见过老虎。
He hasn't long been back.他刚回来。
I'm sorry but I can't stay longer.对不起,我不能再久留了。

long, a long time
1.这两者都用作表示时间的状语,用于疑问句中可互换。例如:
Have you been here long〔a long〕 time?你在这里呆了很久了吗?
2.a long time可用于肯定句中;而long只在受另一副词如too, enough, ago修饰时才用于肯定句。例如:
She waited there for a long time.她在那里等了很长时间。
You've been sleeping too long〔long enough〕.你睡得太久了。
3.在否定结构中,两者所表达的意思有别。试比较：
Tom didn't work for long.
汤姆干活没干多久。
(刚工作不久)
Tom didn't work for a long time.
汤姆好长时间没工作了。
(离上次工作已很长时间了)
how long, how soon
参见soon条。
下面两句话意思相同:
It will not take long to finish the work.
It will not be long before I finish the work.
不久我就会完成这项工作。

so long在非正式用语中可作“再见”解。