The Long Goodbye

the Determiner

— Used, instead of a, to reference something specific, already known to exist. Compare "I read a book." and "I read the book." — Used with a stress, to show that the word following is special. Are you the John Smith that I went to school with? — Used with an adjective that acts like a noun to mean all of the people concerned The poor are always with us. — Used with superlatives forms of adjectives and adverbs. You are the best.

long Adjective

— If something is long, it takes a lot of time. At 3 hours and 24 minutes, it's a very long movie. That was a long time ago, when I was a child. How long is it until we have our trip? He was often quiet for long periods of time. — If something is long, it has a large distance from end to end. It belonged to a woman in her thirties with long brown hair. The paper was about 20 cm long and 12 cm wide. You can hear it across long distances. She wore a long gray skirt with a black jacket.

long Adverb

— If something takes long, it takes a lot of time. We had dinner together not so long ago. I do not know how long I was standing there. She left home long before I did. I could not go on any longer. Those days are so long gone. This change is long overdue.

long Verb

— If you long for something, you wish for or really want it. Carol still longs for David to come back to her even though she knows he has a new wife.

goodbye Interjection

— You say goodbye when you leave/depart, as a farewell. Goodbye! See you next year.

goodbye Noun

— The act of saying "goodbye" to someone.