1. trans. To make longer, increase the length of, whether in material or immaterial sense; to elongate, prolong, protract. Also with out († rarely on).
1500–20. Dunbar, Poems, lxix. 6. Quhen that the nycht dois lenthin houris.
1555. Eden, Decades, 215. All suche as sayled towarde the West dyd greatly lengthen the day.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., I. ii. 12. Put forth thy hand, reach at the glorious Gold. What, is ’t too short? Ile lengthen it with mine.
1602. Marston, Ant. & Mel., III. Wks. 1856, I. 43. This vengeance … will lengthen out My daies unmeasuredly.
1611. Bible, 1 Kings iii. 14. Then I will lengthen thy dayes.
1614–5. Acc., in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), II. 487. For lenthning a wymble.
a. 1688. Villiers (Dk. Buckhm.), To Celia, in Misc. Poems (1705), II. 54.
| I must to lengthen on the Pleasure, | |
| Dwell on thy Lips, and Kiss by leisure. |
1711. Addison, Spect., No. 112, ¶ 3. Sometimes he will be lengthening out a Verse in the Singing-Psalms, half a Minute after the rest of the congregation have done with it.
1712. W. Rogers, Voy., 5. We lengthen’d our Mizen-Mast four Foot and a half.
1797. Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, i. (1826), 6. He lengthened his visit till there was no longer an excuse for doing so.
1805. Wordsw., Prelude, xiii. 317. The bare white roads Lengthening in solitude their dreary line.
1858. Hawthorne, Fr. & It. Jrnls. (1872), I. 35. The corridor was of immense length, and seemed to lengthen itself before us.
1875. Jowett, Plato (ed. 2), V. 101. The life of peace is that which men should chiefly desire to lengthen out and improve.
1885. Spectator, 18 July, 945/2. Twenty-nine such works are enumerated, and the list might be lengthened.
b. with reference to phonetic quantity.
1666. [see LENGTHENING vbl. sb.].
1755. Johnson, Gram., Of Vowels, It [E] does not always lengthen the foregoing vowel, as glŏve, lĭve, gĭve.
1891. H. Bradley, Stratmann’s ME. Dict., Pref. p. viii. A short vowel which has been lengthened by position.
† c. Used for: To eke out, cause to last longer. Also with out. Obs.
1670. Narborough, in Acc. Sev. Late Voy., I. (1711), 56. I do intend to salt up a quantity of each, to carry to Sea with me to lengthen out my Provisions.
1712. W. Rogers, Voy., 255. We agreed for the Gallapagos to get Turtle to lengthen our Provisions.
1748. Anson’s Voy., II. viii. 220. We took a number of them [green turtle] with us to sea, which proved of great service … in lengthning out our store of provision.
2. intr. To become longer.
1695. Locke, Further Consid. Value Money, 21. One may as well make a Yard, whose parts lengthen and shrink, as [etc.].
1707. Curios. in Husb. & Gard., 257. The stems will soon show themselves, and lengthen.
1725. Pope, Odyss., XXIV. 408. His breath lengthens, and his pulses beat.
1798. Landor, Gebir, I. 205. And eyes that languished, lengthening, just like love.
1813. Shelley, Q. Mab, V. 52. The chain That lengthens as it goes.
1877. March, Gram. Anglo-Saxon, 26. Under the accent the simple vowels a, i, u, lengthen by prefixing a and â.
1878. M. A. Brown, Nadeschda, 82. Daylight fades, the shadows slowly lengthen.
b. Mil. (See quot.)
1802. James, Milit. Dict., To lengthen out, in a military sense, means to stride out.
Hence † Lengthener.
c. 1560. Misogonus, IV. i. 158 (Brandl Quellen 482). Thou art the lengthner of my lif, the curar of my care.
