long jump
1 Americannoun
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a jump for distance from a running start.
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a field event featuring competition in the long jump.
verb (used without object)
noun
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
- long jumping noun
Etymology
Origin of long jump
First recorded in 1880–85
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rand, whose death aged 86 was announced on Friday, became the first British woman to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics, thanks to her long jump victory in Tokyo in 1964.
From BBC
Rand secured the long jump title at the Tokyo Games in 1964, also winning silver in the inaugural women's pentathlon and bronze in the 4x100m relay.
From BBC
"Any Jamaican athlete in the sprints is following on from one of the greatest of all-time, so there is inevitably added pressure," Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford said on BBC TV.
From BBC
Jazmin Sawyers was left "gutted" after missing out on the women's long jump final on her post-injury return to a global championship.
From BBC
The world records in the high, triple and long jump were all set in the 1990s, and remain unbroken.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.