long-winded, a.
1. Capable of continuing in action for a long time without being out of breath; long-breathed.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. iii. 181 One poore peny-worth of Sugar-candie to make thee long-winded. 1608 Day Humour out of breath iv. G, Pa. Are you in breath my Lord? Hort. As a bruers horse, and as long-winded. 1728 Pope Dunc. ii. 300 A cold, long-winded native of the deep. 1758 Mickmakis & Maricheets 37 Men that pretend to foretel futurity..by frightful and long-winded howlings. 1870 Dickens E. Drood xii, I am younger and longer-winded than you. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit., Farming Wks. (Bohn) III. 57 This hard work will always be done by..men of endurance,—deep-chested, long-winded, tough. |
| fig. 1708 Ockley Saracens (1848) 322 That every one might make preparation for a war which..would be more long-winded than the former. |
b. Naut. (See
quot.)
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Long-winded Whistlers, chase-guns. |
2. Of persons: Given to lengthy speaking or writing; characterized by tedious lengthiness in speech, or dilatoriness in action. Of their speech, etc.: Tediously long; of a tedious or wearisome length.
| 1589 Hay any Work 48 Thou are longer winded then Deane Iohn is. 1652 Sir C. Cotterell tr. Cassandra iii. (1676) 41 Such a long-winded Discourse. 1696 Prior Secretary 8 For her, neither visits, nor parties at tea, Nor the long-winded cant of a dull refugee. a 1700 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Long-winded Pay-master, one that very slowly..Paies. 1741 tr. D'Argens' Chinese Lett. iv. 22 The French Tradesmen are incapable of entering upon such long-winded Methods to favour their Commerce. 1764 Mem. G. Psalmanazar 230 A long-winded and multifarious dissimulation. 1769 Burke Corr. (1844) I. 171, I am no great friend, in general, of long-winded performances. 1884 Century Mag. XXVIII. 589 The long-winded old salts who come here to report their wrecks. 1891 Law Times XCII. 106/2 Complicated provisions to suit the varying tastes of different owners..make conveyancing often seem long-winded. |
Hence
longˈwindedly adv.,
longˈwindedness.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. I. v. ii, [They] make known, not without longwindedness, the determinations of the royal breast. 1866 G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xi. (1878) 213, I may speak long-windedly and even inconsiderately as regards my young readers. 1874 Helps Soc. Press. vii. (1875) 82, I hate long-windedness as much as you do..; but I cannot call good similes and metaphors padding. 1885 Athenæum 12 Dec. 766/1 The longwindedness of narrative and dialogue only increases the insipidity of the whole. |