–adverb

1.	in what way or manner; by what means?: How did the accident happen?

2.	to what extent, degree, etc.?: How damaged is the car?

3.	in what state or condition?: How are you?

4.	for what reason; why?: How can you talk such nonsense?

5.	to what effect; with what meaning?: How is one to interpret his action?

6.	what?: How do y 99d ou mean? If they don't have vanilla, how about chocolate?

7.	(used as an intensifier): How seldom I go there!

8.	by what title or name?: How does one address the president?

9.	at what price: How are the new cars going, cheaper than last year's models?

10.	by what amount or in what measure or quantity?: How do you sell these tomatoes?

11.	in what form or shape?: How does the demon appear in the first act of the opera? How does the medication come?

–conjunction

12.	the manner or way in which: He couldn't figure out how to solve the problem.

13.	about the manner, condition, or way in which: I don't care how you leave your desk when you go. Be careful how you act.

14.	in whatever manner or way; however: You can travel how you please.

15.	Informal. that: He told us how he was honest and could be trusted.

–noun

16.	a question concerning the way or manner in which something is done, achieved, etc.: a child's unending whys and hows.

17.	a way or manner of doing something: to consider all the hows and wherefores.

18.	a word formerly used in communications to represent the letter H.

—Idioms

19.	and how! Informal. certainly! you bet!: Am I happy? And how!

20.	Here's how, Informal. (used as a toast).

21.	how come? Informal. how is it that? why?: How come you never visit us anymore?

22.	how so? how does it happen to be so? why?: You haven't any desire to go? How so?

–adjective

1.	having considerable linear extent in space: a long distance; a long handle.

2.	having considerable duration in time: a long conversation; a long while.

3.	extending, lasting, or totaling a number of specified units: eight miles long; eight hours long.

4.	containing many items or units: a long list.

5.	requiring a considerable time to relate, read, etc.: a long story.

6.	extending beyond normal or moderate limits: a long, boring speech.

7.	experienced as passing slowly, because of the difficulty, tedium, or unpleasantness involved: long years of study.

8.	reaching well into the past: a long memory.

9.	the longer of two or the longest of several: the long way home; a brick with the long side exposed.

10.	taking a long time; slow: He's certainly long getting here.

11.	forward-looking or considering all aspects; broad: to take a long view of life.

12.	intense, thorough, or critical; seriously appraising: a long look at one's past mistakes.

13.	having an ample supply or endowment of something (often fol. by on): to be long on advice; to be long on brains.

14.	having a considerable time to run, as a promissory note.

15.	Chiefly Law. distant or remote in time: a long date.

16.	extending relatively far: a man with a long reach.

17.	being higher or taller than usual: long casement windows.

18.	being against great odds; unlikely: a long chance.

19.	(of beverages) mixed or diluted with a large amount of soda, seltzer, etc.: highballs, collinses, and other long drinks.

20.	(of the head or skull) of more than ordinary length from front to back.

21.

Phonetics. a. lasting a relatively long time: “Feed” has a longer sound than “feet” or “fit.” b. belonging to a class of sounds considered as usually longer in duration than another class, as the vowel of bought as comp 90 ared to that of but, and in many languages serving as a distinctive feature of phonemes, as the ah in German Bahn in contrast with the a in Bann, or the tt in Italian fatto in contrast with the t in fato (opposed to short ). c. having the sound of the English vowels in mate, meet, mite, mote, moot, and mute, historically descended from vowels that were long in duration.

22.	Prosody. (of a syllable in quantitative verse) lasting a longer time than a short syllable.

23.	Finance. holding or accumulating stocks, futures, commodities, etc., with the expectation of a rise in prices: a long position in chemicals.

24.	Gambling. a. marked by a large difference in the numbers of the given betting ratio or in the amounts wagered: long odds. b. of or pertaining to the larger amount bet.

25.	Ceramics. (of clay) very plastic; fat.

–noun

26.	a comparatively long time: They haven't been gone for long. Will it take long?

27.	something that is long: The signal was two longs and a short.

28.	a size of garment for men who are taller than average.

29.	a garment, as a suit or overcoat, in this size: The shorts and the longs are hung separately.

30.	Finance. a person who accumulates or holds stocks or commodities with the expectation of a rise in prices.

31.	Music. longa.

–adverb

32.	for or through a great extent of space or, esp., time: a reform long advocated.

33.	for or throughout a specified extent, esp. of time: How long did he stay?

34.	(used elliptically in referring to the length of an absence, delay, etc.): Will she be long?

35.	throughout a specified period of time (usually used to emphas 3e8 ize a preceding noun): It's been muggy all summer long.

36.	at a point of time far distant from the time indicated: long before.

—Idioms

37.

as long as, a. provided that: As long as you can come by six, I'll be here. b. seeing that; since: As long as you're going to the grocery anyway, buy me a pint of ice cream. c. Also, so long as. during the time that; b74 through the period that: As long as we were neighbors, they never invited us inside their house.

38.	before long, soon: We should have news of her whereabouts before long.

39.	the long and the short of, the point or gist of; substance of: The long and the short of it is that they will be forced to sell all their holdings. Also, the long and short of.

–verb (used without object)

1.	to spend some time in a place, in a situation, with a person or group, etc.: He stayed in the army for ten years.

2.	to continue to be as specified, as to condition or state: to stay clean.

3.	to hold out or endure, as in a contest or task (fol. by with or at): Please stay with the project as long as you can.

4.	to keep up, as with a competitor (fol. by with).

5.	Poker. to continue in a hand by matching an ante, bet, or raise.

6.	to stop or halt.

7.	to pause or wait, as for a moment, before proceeding or continuing; linger or tarry.

8.	Archaic. to cease or desist.

9.	Archaic. to stand firm.

–verb (used with object)

10.	to stop or halt.

11.	to hold back, detain, or restrain, as from going further.

12.	to suspend or delay (actions, proceedings, etc.).

13.	to appease or satisfy temporarily the cravings of (the stomach, appetite, etc.).

14.	to remain through or during (a period of time): We stayed two days in San Francisco.

15.	to remain to the end of; remain beyond (usually fol. by out).

16.	Archaic. to await.

–noun

17.	the act of stopping or being stopped.

18.	a stop, halt, or pause; a standstill.

19.	a sojourn or temporary residence: a week's stay in Miami.

20.	< d46 span class="ital-inline">Law. a stoppage or arrest of action; suspension of a judicial proceeding: The governor granted a stay of execution.

21.	Informal. staying power; endurance.

—Idiom

22.	stay the course, to persevere; endure to completion.

–pronoun

1.	(a form of the possessive case of you used as an attributive adjective): Y ed2 our jacket is in that closet. I like your idea. Compare yours.

2.	one's (used to indicate that one belonging to oneself or to any person): The consulate is your best source of information. As you go down the hill, the library is on your left.

3.	(used informally to indicate all members of a group, occupation, etc., or things of a particular type): Take your factory worker, for instance. Your power brakes don't need that much servicing.

–noun

1.	an assemblage or combination of things or parts forming a complex or unitary whole: a mountain system; a railroad system.

2.	any assemblage or set of correlated members: a system of currency; a system of shorthand characters.

3.	an ordered and comprehensive assemblage of facts, principles, doctrines, or the like in a particular field of knowledge or thought: a system of philosophy.

4.	a coordinated body of methods or a scheme or plan of procedure; organizational scheme: a system of government.

5.	any formulated, regular, or special method or plan of procedure: a system of marking, numbering, or measuring; a winning system at bridge.

6.	due method or orderly manner of arrangement or procedure: There is no system in his work.

7.	the world or universe.

8.

Astronomy. a. a number of heavenly bodies associated and acting together according to certain natural laws: the solar system. b. a hypothesis or theory of the disposition a 62c nd arrangements of the heavenly bodies by which their phenomena, motions, changes, etc., are explained: the Ptolemaic system; the Copernican system.

9.	Biology. a. an assemblage of organs or related tissues concerned with the same function: the nervous system; the digestive system. b. the entire human or animal body considered as a functioning unit: an ingredient toxic to the system.

10.	one's psychological makeup, esp. with reference to desires or preoccupations: to get something out of one's system.

11.	a method or scheme of classification: the Linnean system of plants.

12.	(sometimes initial capital letter) the prevailing structure or organization of society, business, or po 3e8 litics or of society in general; establishment (usually prec. by the): to work within the system instead of trying to change it.

13.	Geology. a major division of rocks comprising sedimentary deposits and igneous masses formed during a single geologic period.

14.	Physical Chemistry. a combination of two or more phases, as a binary system, each of which consists of one or more substances, that is attaining or is in equilibrium.

15.	Computers. a working combination of hardware, software, and data communications ed2 devices.

16.	Checkers. either of the two groups of 16 playing squares on four alternate columns.