elongate

[ih-lawng-geyt, ih-long-, ee-lawng-geyt, ee-long-]

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verb (used with object), e·lon·gat·ed, e·lon·gat·ing.

to draw out to greater length; lengthen; extend.

verb (used without object), e·lon·gat·ed, e·lon·gat·ing.

to increase in length.

adjective Also e·lon·gat·ed.

extended; lengthened.

long and thin.

Origin of elongate

1530–40; < Late Latin ēlongātus lengthened out, past participle of ēlongāre to make longer, make distant, remove, equivalent to Latin ē- e-¹ + -longāre, derivative of longus long¹, longē far off

Related formse·lon·ga·tive

[ee-lawng-gey-tiv, ee-long-] /ˈi lɔŋˌgeɪ tɪv, ˈi lɒŋ-/, adjectivesub·e·lon·gate, adjectivesub·e·lon·gat·ed, adjectiveun·e·lon·gat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for elongate

lengthen, draw, extend, stretch, prolong, pad, protract, fill, prolongate

Examples from the Web for elongate

Contemporary Examples of elongate

By keeping Brody alive, Gansa and his team have forced themselves to elongate his romantic relationship with Carrie as well.
‘Homeland’ Is Finally Back On Track with Season 3’s Penultimate Episode, “Big Man in Tehran”
Andrew Romano
December 9, 2013
And it's easier to delay something than to make something happen, so things tended to elongate rather than abbreviate.
Donald Rumsfeld on What Went Right
John Barry
February 8, 2011

Historical Examples of elongate

"We must wait a bit," says the old man, his face seeming to elongate.
An Outcast
F. Colburn Adams
And Johnnie's weight was not enough to elongate its set curves.
The Rich Little Poor Boy
Eleanor Gates
Also, used to elongate the mast of any boat by stepping it in a tabernacle.
The Sailor's Word-Book
William Henry Smyth
Some of the species are simple, elongate and clavate bodies.
Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc.
George Francis Atkinson
Levi Pope's face seemed to elongate as he contemplated Ford's question.
Shaman
Robert Shea

British Dictionary definitions for elongate

elongate

verb

to make or become longer; stretch

adjective

long and narrow; slenderelongate leaves

lengthened or tapered

Word Origin for elongate

C16: from Late Latin ēlongāre to keep at a distance, from ē- away + Latin longē (adv) far, but also later: to lengthen, as if from ē- + Latin longus (adj) long

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for elongate

1530s, from Late Latin elongatus, past participle of elongare "to prolong, protract" (see elongation). Earlier in the same sense was elongen (mid-15c.). Related: Elongated; elongating.