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• long distance
  long distance

  noun

  telephone service between distant places.
• long-distance
  long-distance

  adjective

  of, from, or between distant places.

long distance

¹ American  

noun

1. telephone service between distant places.

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long-distance ² American  

[lawng-dis-tuhns, long-] / ˈlɔŋˈdɪs təns, ˈlɒŋ- /

adjective

1. of, from, or between distant places.

   a long-distance phone call.

2. for, over, or covering long distances.

   a long-distance runner.

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adverb

1. by long-distance telephone.

   to call someone long-distance.

long-distance British  

noun

1. (modifier) covering relatively long distances

   a long-distance driver

2. (modifier) (of telephone calls, lines, etc) connecting points a relatively long way apart

3. a long-distance telephone call

4. a long-distance telephone system or its operator

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adverb

1. by a long-distance telephone line

   he phoned long-distance

Etymology

Origin of long distance¹

First recorded in 1900–05

Origin of long-distance²

First recorded in 1880–85

Explanation

Something long-distance occurs between two points that are very far away from each other. A long-distance truck driver has a route that takes her many miles from one city to another. A long-distance phone call is one that you make between two distant places, like Kansas City and Mumbai; and a long-distance relationship is one in which the two people live in different cities, like Seattle and Dallas. A long-distance runner, as opposed to a sprinter, takes part in marathons and other long races. In 1884, this adjective first began describing telephone calls — it's since become less common to use it this way.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

long distance long-distance

While it was tempting to jump right in with both feet, we decided to date long distance and take things slowly.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026

Then again, maybe you’d also appreciate getting to see the world without having to catch a series of flights or drive a long distance.

From Slate ● May 16, 2026

The two sides remain a long distance apart.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

Due to their large body size, repeated long distance hopping would have been inefficient.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 23, 2026

After dinner he asked to use the phone and talked long distance for the rest of the evening—“perhaps for four hours,” Browne later recalled.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

Dogs, “dogged” enough to hunt for hours, are better at long-distance seeing, which allows for visual communication with man or pack.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026

In Los Angeles, this is considered a long-distance relationship.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

U-Haul rents trucks for long-distance, one-way moves and charges a flat rate that covers six days from New York City to Colorado Springs, an almost 1,800-mile journey.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026

Poland's long-distance rail operator PKP Intercity announced disruption to some of its services, with the public displays at Warsaw's Central train station showing delays of more than four hours.

From Barron's ● Jun. 28, 2026

All of them were long-distance customers of a doll shop at 718 Madison Avenue in New York City.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield