long distance

US: (lông′dis′təns, long′-)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

ˈlong ˈdis•tance, n. [uncountable]

1. Telecommunications telephone service between distant places.

long--dis•tance, adj. [usually before a noun]

a long-distance call.

adv.:

to call long-distance.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

long′ dis′tance, 

1. Telecommunications telephone service between distant places.

• 1900–05

long-dis•tance  (lông′dis′təns, long′-), adj. 

1. Telecommunications of, from, or between distant places:
   a long-distance phone call.
2. for, over, or covering long distances:
   a long-distance runner.

adv. 

3. Telecommunications by long-distance telephone:
   to call someone long-distance.

• 1880–85

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

long-distance 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

adverb

1. by a long-distance telephone line: he phoned long-distance