log

[lawg, log]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR log ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a portion or length of the trunk or of a large limb of a felled tree.

something inert, heavy, or not sentient.

Nautical. any of various devices for determining the speed of a ship, as a chip log or patent log.

any of various records, made in rough or finished form, concerning a trip made by a ship or aircraft and dealing with particulars of navigation, weather, engine performance, discipline, and other pertinent details; logbook.

Movies. an account describing or denoting each shot as it is taken, written down during production and referred to in editing the film.

a register of the operation of a machine.

Also called well log. a record kept during the drilling of a well, especially of the geological formations penetrated.

Computers. any of various chronological records made concerning the use of a computer system, the changes made to data, etc.

Radio and Television. a written account of everything transmitted by a station or network.

Also called log of wood. Australian Slang. a lazy, dull-witted person; fool.

verb (used with object), logged, log·ging.

to cut (trees) into logs: to log pine trees for fuel.

to cut down the trees or timber on (land): We logged the entire area in a week.

to enter in a log; compile; amass; keep a record of: to log a day's events.

to make (a certain speed), as a ship or airplane: We are logging 18 knots.

to travel for (a certain distance or a certain amount of time), according to the record of a log: We logged 30 miles the first day. He has logged 10,000 hours flying time.

verb (used without object), logged, log·ging.

to cut down trees and get out logs from the forest for timber: to log for a living.

Verb Phrases

Also log on, sign on.Computers.to enter identifying data, as a username or password, into a database, mobile device, or computer, especially a multiuser computer or a remote or networked system, so as to to access and use it: Log in to start your work session. Log in to your account to pay your bill online.
to enter or include any item of information or data in a record, account, etc.

log off/out, Computers. to terminate a session.

Origin of log

1350–1400; Middle English logge, variant of lugge pole, limb of tree; compare obsolete logget pole; see lugsail, logbook

Related formslog·gish, adjectiveun·logged, adjective

log

[lawg, log]

noun

Mathematics. logarithm.

log.

logic.

log-

variant of logo- before a vowel: logarithm.

-log

variant of -logue: analog.

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

Related Words for log

chunk, wood, piece, timber, journal, diary, chart, length, stick, trunk, block, bole, driftwood, account, register, tally, daybook, book, listing, logbook

Examples from the Web for log

Contemporary Examples of log

Turn off the TV, put down your phone, and log off the computer.
Why Your New Year’s Diet Will Fail
Carrie Arnold
December 30, 2014
One morning a few years ago, the editor left his apartment to find an ax stuck into a log on his doorstep.
The Kremlin Is Killing Echo of Moscow, Russia’s Last Independent Radio Station
Anna Nemtsova
November 7, 2014
The Spires gather data every time somebody uses them; they log each “product.”
Font of Invention
September 18, 2014
Your favorite adult star has to log a lot of gym hours to keep those curves in all the right places.
#ButtSchool - How Porn Stars Work Out: Pop Physique Promises the Perfect Derriere
Aurora Snow
August 23, 2014
That August, Mangan went on the MacBook laptop they shared and discovered that he had forgotten to log out.
Why NYPD Couldn’t Cook The ‘Cannibal Cop’
Michael Daly
July 2, 2014

Historical Examples of log

But if we can only get hold of these log books you speak of.
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
Howard Pyle
Before it, on a log of wood, sat or crouched a human figure.
Green Mansions
W. H. Hudson
There he lay like a log, and all my efforts with vinegar and water had no visible effect.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
The chimney, as is the case with all log cabins, was built on the outside.
With Trapper Jim in the North Woods
Lawrence J. Leslie
Then, again, he'd run along a log and jump from stone to stone.
With Trapper Jim in the North Woods
Lawrence J. Leslie

British Dictionary definitions for log

log

noun

a section of the trunk or a main branch of a tree, when stripped of branches
(modifier)constructed out of logsa log cabin

a detailed record of a voyage of a ship or aircraft
a record of the hours flown by pilots and aircrews
a book in which these records are made; logbook

a written record of information about transmissions kept by radio stations, amateur radio operators, etc

a device consisting of a float with an attached line, formerly used to measure the speed of a shipSee also chip log
heave the logto determine a ship's speed with such a device

Australian a claim for better pay and conditions presented by a trade union to an employer

like a log without stirring or being disturbed (in the phrase sleep like a log)

verb logs, logging or logged

(tr) to fell the trees of (a forest, area, etc) for timber

(tr) to saw logs from (trees)

(intr) to work at the felling of timber

(tr) to enter (a distance, event, etc) in a logbook or log

(tr) to record the punishment received by (a sailor) in a logbook

(tr) to travel (a specified distance or time) or move at (a specified speed)

Word Origin for log

C14: origin obscure

log

noun

short for logarithm

-log

combining form

a US variant of -logue

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 log

n.1

unshaped large piece of tree, early 14c., of unknown origin. Old Norse had lag "felled tree" (from stem of liggja "to lie"), but on phonological grounds many etymologists deny that this is the root of English log. Instead, they suggest an independent formation meant to "express the notion of something massive by a word of appropriate sound." OED compares clog (n.) in its original Middle English sense "lump of wood." Log cabin (1770) in American English has been a figure of the honest pioneer since the 1840 presidential campaign of William Henry Harrison. Falling off a log as a type of something easy to do is from 1839.

v.2

"to enter into a log-book," 1823, from log (n.2). Meaning "to attain (a speed) as noted in a log" is recorded by 1883. Related: Logged; logging.

n.2

"record of observations, readings, etc.," 1842, sailor's shortening of log-book "daily record of a ship's speed, progress, etc." (1670s), from log (n.1) which is so called because a wooden float at the end of a line was cast out to measure a ship's speed. General sense by 1913.

v.1

"to fell a tree," 1717; earlier "to strip a tree" (1690s), from log (n.1). Related: Logged; logging.