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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. adj. Deviating from a square, circular, or spherical form by being elongated in one direction.
  2. adj. Having the shape of or resembling a rectangle or an ellipse.
  3. adj. Botany Having a somewhat elongated form with approximately parallel sides: an oblong leaf.
  4. n. An object or figure, such as a rectangle, with an elongated shape.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. Elongated; having one principal axis considerably longer than the others. Specifically — In geometry, having the length greater than the breadth, and the sides parallel and the angles right angles.
  2. n. A figure of which the length is greater than the breadth; specifically, in geometry, a rectangle whose length exceeds its breadth.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. Describing something that is longer than it is wide.
  2. adj. Roughly rectangular or ellipsoidal.
  3. n. Something with an oblong shape.
  4. n. A rectangle having length greater than width.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Having greater length than breadth, esp. when rectangular.
  2. n. A rectangular figure longer than it is broad; hence, any figure longer than it is broad.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a plane figure that deviates from a square or circle due to elongation
  2. adj. deviating from a square or circle or sphere by being elongated in one direction
  3. adj. (of a leaf shape) having a somewhat elongated form with approximately parallel sides

Etymologies

  1. Middle English, from Latin oblongus : ob-, intensive pref. (sense uncertain); see ob- + longus, long; see del-1 in Indo-European roots.

Examples

  • “The bark on the older surface sheds in short oblong irregular scales or plates that detach perhaps at both ends and often at the sides, clinging by the middle until the curl loosens them and they fall to the ground.”

    The Apple-Tree The Open Country Books—No. 1

  • “The oblong is the best decorative art _form_, as a rule.”

    How to Prepare and Serve a Meal; and Interior Decoration

  • “Above the oblong was a salamander, the Kings particular device, with many other ornaments appropriate to the Ionic architecture of the whole design.”

    The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini

  • “Above the oblong was a salamander, the King’s particular device, with many other ornaments appropriate to the Ionic architecture of the whole design.”

    XXI

  • “It was followed by three others, forming, as it were, the four corners of an oblong, which is two hundred and seventy feet long and one hundred and twenty wide.”

    Chatterbox, 1906

  • “The UFO was described as oblong with a curved front and a series of small nozzles at the rear.”

    Daily News & Analysis

  • “* Oblong Face Shape: Long faces are described as oblong - long and narrow.”

    Celebrity Online News - Celebrity Gossip, Celebrity Information and Celebrity Reports. Celebrity RSS Feed Available

  • “There were white onions, and white grapes, and a kind of oblong white melon, but there were also peppers and tomatoes and other more familiar produce.”

    Fictionaut: The Lives of Felix Gunderson

  • “In his high-flown professor mode, he sometimes pledges to replace the "rectangle of the liberal welfare state" with the "oblong" of the "conservative opportunity society.”

    Newsweek: Goodbye Welfare State

  • “And yeah I think I've seen that - on dial up at home, but I'm guessing its the 'oblong' one?”

    Two days to go...

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‘oblong’ has been looked up 1415 times, loved by 1 person, added to 35 lists, and has a Scrabble score of 9.