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furlong

[fur-lawng, -long]
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noun
  1. a unit of distance, equal to 220 yards (201 meters) or ⅛ mile (0.2 km). Abbreviation: fur.
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Origin of furlong

before 900; Middle English; Old English furlang length of a furrow. See furrow, long1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for furlong

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • And so, with every furlong of the forced journey, he died a fresh death.

    The Wild Geese

    Stanley John Weyman

  • The House of Turriepuffit stood about a furlong from David's cottage.

    David Elginbrod

    George MacDonald

  • At a furlong's distance every wolf stopped and turned round.

  • His house was scarcely a furlong distant, yet he was an hour crawling to it.

  • Nor had he gone a furlong more when just ahead he spied the lions themselves.

    The Story-teller

    Maud Lindsay

British Dictionary definitions for furlong

furlong

noun
  1. a unit of length equal to 220 yards (201.168 metres)
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Word Origin

Old English furlang, from furh furrow + lang long 1
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 furlong

n.

Old English furlang measure of distance of roughly 220 yards, originally the length of a furrow in the common field of 10 acres, from furh "furrow" + lang "long." The "acre" of the common field being variously measured, the furlong was fixed 9c. on the classical stadium, one-eighth of a Roman mile.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper