Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

   2. Drawn out or extended in time; continued through a
      considerable tine, or to a great length; as, a long series
      of events; a long debate; a long drama; a long history; a
      long book.

   3. Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration;
      lingering; as, long hours of watching.

   4. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in
      time; far away.

            The we may us reserve both fresh and strong Against
            the tournament, which is not long.    --Spenser.

   5. Extended to any specified measure; of a specified length;
      as, a span long; a yard long; a mile long, that is,
      extended to the measure of a mile, etc.

   6. Far-reaching; extensive. `` Long views.'' --Burke.

   7. (Phonetics) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in
      utterance; -- said of vowels and syllables. See {Short},
      a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 22, 30.

   Note: Long is used as a prefix in a large number of compound
         adjectives which are mostly of obvious meaning; as,
         long-armed, long-beaked, long-haired, long-horned,
         long-necked, long-sleeved, long-tailed, long- worded,
         etc.

   {In the long run}, in the whole course of things taken
      together; in the ultimate result; eventually.

   {Long clam} (Zo["o]l.), the common clam ({Mya arenaria}) of
      the Northern United States and Canada; -- called also
      {soft-shell clam} and {long-neck clam}. See {Mya}.

   {Long cloth}, a kind of cotton cloth of superior quality.

   {Long clothes}, clothes worn by a young infant, extending
      below the feet.

   {Long division}. (Math.) See {Division}.

   {Long dozen}, one more than a dozen; thirteen.

   {Long home}, the grave.

   {Long measure}, {Long mater}. See under {Measure}, {Meter}.
      

   {Long Parliament} (Eng. Hist.), the Parliament which
      assembled Nov. 3, 1640, and was dissolved by Cromwell,
      April 20, 1653.

   {Long price}, the full retail price.

   {Long purple} (Bot.), a plant with purple flowers, supposed
      to be the {Orchis mascula}. --Dr. Prior.

   {Long suit} (Whist), a suit of which one holds originally
      more than three cards. --R. A. Proctor.

   {Long tom}.
      (a) A pivot gun of great length and range, on the dock of
          a vessel.
      (b) A long trough for washing auriferous earth. [Western
          U.S.]
      (c) (Zo["o]l.) The long-tailed titmouse.

   {Long wall} (Coal Mining), a working in which the whole seam
      is removed and the roof allowed to fall in, as the work
      progresses, except where passages are needed.

   {Of long}, a long time. [Obs.] --Fairfax.

   {To be}, or {go}, {long of the market}, {To be on the long
   side of the market}, etc. (Stock Exchange), to hold stock for
      a rise in price, or to have a contract under which one can
      demand stock on or before a certain day at a stipulated
      price; -- opposed to {short} in such phrases as, to be
      short of stock, to sell short, etc. [Cant] See {Short}.

   {To have a long head}, to have a farseeing or sagacious mind.

Run \Run\, n.
   1. The act of running; as, a long run; a good run; a quick
      run; to go on the run.

   2. A small stream; a brook; a creek.

   3. That which runs or flows in the course of a certain
      operation, or during a certain time; as, a run of must in
      wine making; the first run of sap in a maple orchard.

   4. A course; a series; that which continues in a certain
      course or series; as, a run of good or bad luck.

            They who made their arrangements in the first run of
            misadventure . . . put a seal on their calamities.
                                                  --Burke.

   5. State of being current; currency; popularity.

            It is impossible for detached papers to have a
            general run, or long continuance, if not diversified
            with humor.                           --Addison.

   6. Continued repetition on the stage; -- said of a play; as,
      to have a run of a hundred successive nights.

            A canting, mawkish play . . . had an immense run.
                                                  --Macaulay.

   7. A continuing urgent demand; especially, a pressure on a
      bank or treasury for payment of its notes.

   8. A range or extent of ground for feeding stock; as, a sheep
      run. --Howitt.

   9. (Naut.)
      (a) The aftermost part of a vessel's hull where it narrows
          toward the stern, under the quarter.
      (b) The distance sailed by a ship; as, a good run; a run
          of fifty miles.
      (c) A voyage; as, a run to China.

   10. A pleasure excursion; a trip. [Colloq.]

             I think of giving her a run in London. --Dickens.

   11. (Mining) The horizontal distance to which a drift may be
       carried, either by license of the proprietor of a mine or
       by the nature of the formation; also, the direction which
       a vein of ore or other substance takes.

   12. (Mus.) A roulade, or series of running tones.

   13. (Mil.) The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It
       is executed upon the same principles as the double-quick,
       but with greater speed.

   14. The act of migrating, or ascending a river to spawn; --
       said of fish; also, an assemblage or school of fishes
       which migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of
       spawning.

   15. In baseball, a complete circuit of the bases made by a
       player, which enables him to score one; in cricket, a
       passing from one wicket to the other, by which one point
       is scored; as, a player made three runs; the side went
       out with two hundred runs.

             The ``runs'' are made from wicket to wicket, the
             batsmen interchanging ends at each run. --R. A.
                                                  Proctor.

   16. A pair or set of millstones.

   {At the long run}, now, commonly, {In the long run}, in or
      during the whole process or course of things taken
      together; in the final result; in the end; finally.

            [Man] starts the inferior of the brute animals, but
            he surpasses them in the long run.    --J. H.
                                                  Newman.

   {Home run}.
       (a) A running or returning toward home, or to the point
           from which the start was made. Cf. {Home stretch}.
       (b) (Baseball) See under {Home}.

   {The run}, or {The common run}, etc., ordinary persons; the
      generality or average of people or things; also, that
      which ordinarily occurs; ordinary current, course, or
      kind.

            I saw nothing else that is superior to the common
            run of parks.                         --Walpole.

            Burns never dreamed of looking down on others as
            beneath him, merely because he was conscious of his
            own vast superiority to the common run of men.
                                                  --Prof.
                                                  Wilson.

            His whole appearance was something out of the common
            run.                                  --W. Irving.

   {To let go by the run} (Naut.), to loosen and let run freely,
      as lines; to let fall without restraint, as a sail.

Source : WordNet®

in the long run
     adv : after a very lengthy period of time; "she will succeed in
           the long run" [syn: {in the end}]