Lengthen
//ˈlɛŋθən// verb
verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To make longer, to extend the length of. transitive
"You need to lengthen the story if you want to have it published."
- 2 become long or longer wordnet
- 3 To become longer. intransitive
"The shadows on the lawn lengthened as the sun began to set."
- 4 make longer wordnet
Example
More examples"The coat is a bit too short. Can you lengthen it?"
Etymology
From length + -en.
Related phrases
More for "lengthen"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.