'In the long run' definitions:
Definition of 'in the long run'
From: WordNet
adverb
After a very lengthy period of time; "she will succeed in the long run" [syn: in the long run, in the end]
Definition of 'In the long run'
From: GCIDE
- Long \Long\, a. [Compar. Longer; superl. Longest.] [AS. long, lang; akin to OS, OFries., D., & G. lang, Icel. langr, Sw. l[*a]ng, Dan. lang, Goth. laggs, L. longus. [root]125. Cf. Length, Ling a fish, Linger, Lunge, Purloin.]
- 1. Drawn out in a line, or in the direction of length; protracted; extended; as, a long line; -- opposed to short, and distinguished from broad or wide. [1913 Webster]
- 2. Drawn out or extended in time; continued through a considerable tine, or to a great length; as, a long series of events; a long debate; a long drama; a long history; a long book. [1913 Webster]
- 3. Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration; lingering; as, long hours of watching. [1913 Webster]
- 4. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away. [1913 Webster]
- The we may us reserve both fresh and strong Against the tournament, which is not long. --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
- 5. Having a length of the specified measure; of a specified length; as, a span long; a yard long; a mile long, that is, extended to the measure of a mile, etc. [1913 Webster]
- 6. Far-reaching; extensive. " Long views." --Burke. [1913 Webster]
- 7. (Phonetics) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in utterance; -- said of vowels and syllables. See Short, a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 22, 30. [1913 Webster]
- 8. (Finance & Com.) Having a supply of stocks or goods; prepared for, or depending for a profit upon, advance in prices; as, long of cotton. Hence, the phrases: to be, or go, long of the market, to be on the long side of the market, to hold products or securities for a rise in price, esp. when bought on a margin. Contrasted to short. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- Note: Long is used as a prefix in a large number of compound adjectives which are mostly of obvious meaning; as, long-armed, long-beaked, long-haired, long-horned, long-necked, long-sleeved, long-tailed, long- worded, etc. [1913 Webster]
- In the long run, in the whole course of things taken together; in the ultimate result; eventually.
- Long clam (Zool.), the common clam (Mya arenaria) of the Northern United States and Canada; -- called also soft-shell clam and long-neck clam. See Mya.
- Long cloth, a kind of cotton cloth of superior quality.
- Long clothes, clothes worn by a young infant, extending below the feet.
- Long division. (Math.) See Division.
- Long dozen, one more than a dozen; thirteen.
- Long home, the grave.
- Long measure, Long meter. See under Measure, Meter.
- Long Parliament (Eng. Hist.), the Parliament which assembled Nov. 3, 1640, and was dissolved by Cromwell, April 20, 1653.
- Long price, the full retail price.
- Long purple (Bot.), a plant with purple flowers, supposed to be the Orchis mascula. --Dr. Prior.
- Long suit (a) (Whist), a suit of which one holds originally more than three cards. --R. A. Proctor. (b) One's most important resource or source of strength; as, as an entertainer, her voice was her long suit.
- Long tom. (a) A pivot gun of great length and range, on the dock of a vessel. (b) A long trough for washing auriferous earth. [Western U.S.] (c) (Zool.) The long-tailed titmouse.
- Long wall (Coal Mining), a working in which the whole seam is removed and the roof allowed to fall in, as the work progresses, except where passages are needed.
- Of long, a long time. [Obs.] --Fairfax.
- To be long of the market, or To go long of the market, To be on the long side of the market, etc. (Stock Exchange), to hold stock for a rise in price, or to have a contract under which one can demand stock on or before a certain day at a stipulated price; -- opposed to short in such phrases as, to be short of stock, to sell short, etc. [Cant] See Short.
- To have a long head, to have a farseeing or sagacious mind. [1913 Webster]
Definition of 'In the long run'
From: GCIDE
- Run \Run\, n.
- 1. The act of running; as, a long run; a good run; a quick run; to go on the run. [1913 Webster]
- 2. A small stream; a brook; a creek. [1913 Webster]
- 3. That which runs or flows in the course of a certain operation, or during a certain time; as, a run of must in wine making; the first run of sap in a maple orchard. [1913 Webster]
- 4. A course; a series; that which continues in a certain course or series; as, a run of good or bad luck. [1913 Webster]
- They who made their arrangements in the first run of misadventure . . . put a seal on their calamities. --Burke. [1913 Webster]
- 5. State of being current; currency; popularity. [1913 Webster]
- It is impossible for detached papers to have a general run, or long continuance, if not diversified with humor. --Addison. [1913 Webster]
- 6. Continued repetition on the stage; -- said of a play; as, to have a run of a hundred successive nights. [1913 Webster]
- A canting, mawkish play . . . had an immense run. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
- 7. A continuing urgent demand; especially, a pressure on a bank or treasury for payment of its notes. [1913 Webster]
- 8. A range or extent of ground for feeding stock; as, a sheep run. --Howitt. [1913 Webster]
- 9. (Naut.) (a) The aftermost part of a vessel's hull where it narrows toward the stern, under the quarter. (b) The distance sailed by a ship; as, a good run; a run of fifty miles. (c) A voyage; as, a run to China. [1913 Webster]
- 10. A pleasure excursion; a trip. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster]
- I think of giving her a run in London. --Dickens. [1913 Webster]
- 11. (Mining) The horizontal distance to which a drift may be carried, either by license of the proprietor of a mine or by the nature of the formation; also, the direction which a vein of ore or other substance takes. [1913 Webster]
- 12. (Mus.) A roulade, or series of running tones. [1913 Webster]
- 13. (Mil.) The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It is executed upon the same principles as the double-quick, but with greater speed. [1913 Webster]
- 14. The act of migrating, or ascending a river to spawn; -- said of fish; also, an assemblage or school of fishes which migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning. [1913 Webster]
- 15. (Sport) In baseball, a complete circuit of the bases made by a player, which enables him to score one point; also, the point thus scored; in cricket, a passing from one wicket to the other, by which one point is scored; as, a player made three runs; the side went out with two hundred runs; the Yankees scored three runs in the seventh inning. [1913 Webster +PJC]
- The "runs" are made from wicket to wicket, the batsmen interchanging ends at each run. --R. A. Proctor. [1913 Webster]
- 16. A pair or set of millstones. [1913 Webster]
- 17. (Piquet, Cribbage, etc.) A number of cards of the same suit in sequence; as, a run of four in hearts. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- 18. (Golf) (a) The movement communicated to a golf ball by running. (b) The distance a ball travels after touching the ground from a stroke. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
- At the long run, now, commonly, In the long run, in or during the whole process or course of things taken together; in the final result; in the end; finally. [1913 Webster]
- [Man] starts the inferior of the brute animals, but he surpasses them in the long run. --J. H. Newman. [1913 Webster]
- Home run. (a) A running or returning toward home, or to the point from which the start was made. Cf. Home stretch. (b) (Baseball) See under Home.
- The run, or The common run, or The run of the mill etc., ordinary persons; the generality or average of people or things; also, that which ordinarily occurs; ordinary current, course, or kind. [1913 Webster +PJC]
- I saw nothing else that is superior to the common run of parks. --Walpole. [1913 Webster]
- Burns never dreamed of looking down on others as beneath him, merely because he was conscious of his own vast superiority to the common run of men. --Prof. Wilson. [1913 Webster]
- His whole appearance was something out of the common run. --W. Irving. [1913 Webster]
- To let go by the run (Naut.), to loosen and let run freely, as lines; to let fall without restraint, as a sail. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'in the long run'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- all in all,
- all things considered,
- almost entirely,
- altogether,
- approximately,
- as a rule,
- as a whole,
- as an approximation,
- as things go,
- as times go,
- at large,
- broadly,
- broadly speaking,
- by and large,
- chiefly,
- commonly,
- effectually,
- essentially,
- eventually,
- finally,
- generally,
- generally speaking,
- in due course,
- in due season,
- in due time,
- in general,
- in round numbers,
- in the main,
- in time,
- mainly,
- mostly,
- normally,
- on balance,
- on the average,
- on the whole,
- ordinarily,
- overall,
- predominantly,
- prevailingly,
- roughly,
- roughly speaking,
- routinely,
- speaking generally,
- substantially,
- ultimately,
- usually,
- virtually