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• long jump
  long jump

  noun

  a jump for distance from a running start.
• long-jump
  long-jump

  verb (used without object)

  to execute a long jump.

long jump

¹ American  

noun

Track and Field.

• long jumps
  plural

1. a jump for distance from a running start.

2. a field event featuring competition in the long jump.

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long-jump ² American  

[lawng-juhmp, long-] / ˈlɔŋˌdʒʌmp, ˈlɒŋ- /

verb (used without object)

1. Track and Field. to execute a long jump.

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long jump British  

noun

1. Former Austral, US, and Canadian equivalent: broad jump. an athletic contest in which competitors try to cover the farthest distance possible with a running jump from a fixed board or mark

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Usage

What is the long jump? The long jump is a track-and-field competition in which athletes attempt to complete the longest forward jump with a running start and a single leap. The long jump is sometimes also known as the broad jump. An attempt in this event (the jump itself) is also called a long jump. A competitor in the long jump is called a long jumper. Standard long jumps take place on a track with a running lane, a jumping area or takeoff board, and a sand pit to land in. The distance of the jump is measured from the edge of the takeoff board to the landing spot. The two main long jump techniques are the tuck (in which the long jumper pulls their knees upward and then extends them at the last second) and the hitch kick (in which the long jumper continues their running motion after they jump in the air and then brings their feet together and extends them in front of them). The long jump is a track-and-field event in the summer Olympic Games (the Summer Games) and it is also part of the modern decathlon. The long jump should not be confused with the high jump, which is a track-and-field (and decathlon) event in which athletes attempt to complete the highest jump over a crossbar. Like the long jump, the triple jump also begins with a running start, but (as the name implies) involves three jumping motions instead of the single leap used in the long jump. Example: I’m training for the long jump and the high jump with my track-and-field team.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• long jumping
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• long jumps
  plural

Etymology

Origin of long jump

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

long jump long-jump

Benson competed in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1,600, long jump, shotput … and earned his award — a baton.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

At last season’s Southern Section Division 3 finals, he won the 110 hurdles, the long jump and finished second in the high jump.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

"It's just not quite there for Kat at the moment," Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford said on BBC TV.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

England's Jazmin Sawyers was finally able to put previous disappointments at major championships behind her by winning the women's long jump at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

We’re in the open, under a warm sun, so it’s probably the sandpit in the Infants’ play area, just possibly it’s the sand at the end of the long jump in the North Playing Field.

From "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro

Spectators cheered as Hernandez began her long-jump approach, and some fans wore bracelets bearing the message “We Stand With AB.”

From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026

His most vivid memory was from the second game, in New York, which was played at an athletics venue, when he went sliding over the touchline and into the long-jump run-up, which grazed his leg.

From BBC ● Oct. 21, 2023

Gillette’s success is his success, even if Williams hasn’t received a Paralympic medal as a long-jump caller.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 25, 2021

He was a long-jump specialist for years, and his biggest major success was an indoor 60-meter win at European champions.

From Fox News ● Aug. 1, 2021

Howard, an Englishman, made on May 8, 1854, the greatest running long-jump, with weights, 29 feet 7 inches; without weights, the highest record is 23 feet 3 inches, made by M. W.

From Golden Days for Boys and Girls Volume VIII, No 25: May 21, 1887 by James Elverson