Definition of distance in English:
distance
See synonyms for distanceTranslate distance into Spanish
noun
1An amount of space between two things or people.
‘I bicycled the short distance home’- ‘the distance between front and rear wheels’
- ‘Minimum safe distances are computed by adding the maximum pattern radius plus three circular error probable.’
- ‘Carrying luggage, changing planes and walking long distances are hassles that most travelers must face.’
- ‘American customers travel long distances at speed on smooth, straight highways.’
- ‘Katie, walking a short distance in front of the girl, turned round.’
- ‘After locking the door, they walked the short distance from their rented house to the college.’
- ‘Kimura two-parameter genetic distance ranged between 0.0017 and 0.0123.’
- ‘Ridgeway elementary is the only school within safe walking distance and is in need of repair.’
- ‘The walk will take approximately two hours to complete covering a distance of four miles.’
- ‘As shown above, using a third taxon to estimate the initial pairwise distances improves their precision.’
- ‘On one tank of fuel it can cover a distance of a thousand kilometres.’
- ‘Printed out and laid end to end, they would cover a distance of 1.3 kilometres.’
- ‘Officers tracked the car onto the A4 keeping a distance of 300 metres.’
- ‘The DNA alignment was analyzed with both parsimony and distance matrix methods.’
- ‘In general, the various distance estimation methods can be divided into two classes.’
- ‘The Moon's distance from Earth varies by about 2700 miles over the course of a lunar cycle.’
- ‘I could always feel the distance separating us as tangible as a stone wall.’
- ‘The residential electronics industry has traveled a considerable distance in a relatively short time.’
- ‘There will not be any significant loss of distance, and your accuracy will improve.’
- ‘Intensity is also influenced by distance from the fault, ground conditions, and sometimes, directivity.’
- ‘We find that modes of transportation are often significant and positively related to median commute distance.’
interval, space, span, gap, separation, interspace, stretch, extentView synonyms- 1.1The condition of being far off; remoteness.‘distance makes things look small’
- ‘a significant distance between German and Allied understandings of the war’
- ‘There is too much distance, a tragic remoteness in our fellowship.’
- ‘It's hard for me to tell from this distance what condition the fields are in and the absolute best plan of attack.’
- ‘They're some significant distance away from being able to create it on their own, even if they can create it.’
- ‘A jet and helicopter can get you just about anywhere quickly; remoteness isn't about mere distance.’
- ‘Yet the sense of space, of distance, the remoteness of the places through which one travelled never contained a hint of menace.’
- ‘Marooned in this far-flung corner of the world by the tyranny of distance and outrageous airfares, the only way to get out of it is to, well, get out of it.’
- ‘Is there something to be said for having some distance in a friendship?’
- ‘But one can have too much distance or get carried away with the flights of fancy one's distance encourages.’
- ‘Giving his typically controlled performance at corner-back, Canning was the best player on display by some distance.’
- ‘Although £50,000 has been raised so far through various sponsored events, they are still some distance away from the target.’
- ‘These shows are some distance from either the cheeky chappy style which made Paul Daniels a star, or the camp melodrama of American David Copperfield.’
- ‘Education has at last challenged the tyranny of distance.’
- ‘I experienced a very Australian emotion which is what I would call the tyranny of distance, as this was before the internet and email.’
- ‘It's hard to gauge at a distance; how strong is the opposition inside the countries that are considering this?’
- ‘Viewed from a distance, it would be easy to imagine that these little girls, all sass and swagger, are grown-ups.’
- ‘Viewed from a distance, however, they lose some of their urgency, shading even into very dry comedy.’
- ‘Sasha smiled, a familiar look of distance flashing in his eye, and I knew he was recalling a memory.’
remoteness, farnessView synonyms - 1.2A far-off point or place.‘watching them from a distance’
- ‘I only ever saw him on TV, or at a distance in the town centre.’
- ‘Scotland, then, is a place to be viewed at a distance.’
- ‘From a distance, the village looked like a holiday trailer park surrounded by grotesque, wind-sculptured trees.’
- ‘From a distance, his digging areas look like plowed fields, bordered by a gleaming expanse of tidal flats.’
- ‘From a distance, the whole village looks like a scene set on a big round plate.’
- ‘Rfid uses teeny computer chips, smaller than half-a-grain of sand, to track items at a distance.’
- ‘‘The effect of Sumi painting is more striking when viewed from a distance,’ he adds.’
- ‘Even Omar, closer to home, is viewed from a distance.’
- ‘The Hawa Mahal when viewed from a distance also resembles the Mukut of Lord Krishna.’
- ‘Where they grow the land from a distance looks not red, but lilac.’
- ‘I will stop and say hello to a cute cat on the street - from a distance.’
- ‘Looking from a distance, the village appears more like a picture scroll with strong local flavour than reality.’
- ‘I always recommend planting tulips in blocks of one colour, as this will give a greater impact when viewed from a distance.’
- ‘The large modernist building was set at a distance from the road beyond several water fountains.’
- ‘Smoking sections should also be established at a distance from public buildings.’
- ‘The best place to view the giant from a distance is from a wide lay-by, just outside the village.’
- ‘These women, who at first appear to work at a distance from the harvest scene in the background, are actually detached from it.’
- ‘The best possible scenario for a monumental piece of architecture is that its site affords a view from a distance.’
- ‘Mr Norris made it clear there was to be no charge for viewing from a distance - but any donations would go to St Helena Hospice.’
- ‘Before us, at Kongdori, is great Apparwat, its snowline just a climb away, and we can see children sledding in the snow at some distance.’
- 1.3the distanceThe more remote part of what is visible or discernible.‘I heard police sirens in the distance’
- ‘they sped off into the distance’
- ‘I craned my neck to try and see into the distance but all I could see was a bunch of lights in the distance.’
- ‘A couple of dots in the distance were visible on the ground.’
- ‘Stretching, Jim looked around, taking note of the large land masses visible in the distance to either side of them.’
- ‘This is a family home with spectacular panoramic views over Inverness, the span of the Kessock Bridge visible in the distance.’
- ‘A scarlet glow became visible in the distance, flickering through the ethereal trees surrounding the two.’
- ‘Looking southeast, Sante Fe is visible in the distance, spilling down the plain.’
- ‘Ragged sheets of rain were visible in the distance, and pale lightning strikes forked against the clouds.’
- ‘No light was visible in the distance, save for that from which he'd come.’
- ‘Their objective, the mountains in the distance, was barely visible to them.’
- ‘They set off after breakfast, heading east toward the mountain range barely visible in the distance.’
- ‘Indeed, it was Captain William Fall, out in the distance, just barely visible to the naked eye.’
- ‘Then all was silent; the eyes had disappeared, the figure no longer visible in the distance.’
- ‘It's an area of tundra and lakes with the volcanic spine of the Alaskan peninsula visible in the distance.’
- ‘He was facing the pine forest, the mountains hardly visible in the distance.’
- ‘The whales visible in the distance can live here only because they are protected by thick layers of blubber.’
- ‘Erin shrugged his shoulders and pointed out the window to a bright object just visible in the distance.’
- ‘Looking up, he saw Evander who was looking straight into the distance at the land that would not be seen for a while longer.’
- ‘He looks off into the distance as tears continue to shed from his eyes.’
- ‘Moments later the mainland shrank into the distance, becoming a mere line on the horizon.’
- ‘After some 45 laps, he overtook him and raced into the distance - quite sublime and easily the equal of the Viren trip.’
far away, far off, afarView synonyms - 1.4An interval of time.‘a distance of more than twenty years’
- ‘For others, the distance of three years makes what happened feel both implausible and unforgivable.’
- ‘But I cannot look upon these plans at a distance of six months, without feeling that past events ought to teach me how little I can depend on the future.’
- ‘In my memory there is a stillness, a quietness about her that I can still feel, that is almost visible, even in the distance of many years.’
distance, space of time, intervalView synonyms
2The full length of a race.
‘he claimed the 10,000 meter title in only his second race over the distance’- ‘Kiplagat spotted Kiptoo's potential a year and a half before her camp was officially opened and persuaded her to race longer distances.’
- ‘It will be an Olympic distance triathlon with a 1.5km swim, a 40 km cycle ride and a 10 km run.’
- ‘In one-loft racing all birds race the same distance and there is a single finishing point.’
- ‘In 2002 I swam the sprint event and the next year moved up to the Olympic distance.’
- ‘But golden girl Holmes is almost certain to do only one of her Olympic distances because of a slight injury.’
- ‘Chris Brogan was the only wheelchair athlete to complete the Olympic triathlon distance.’
- ‘Intense neuromuscular training at race distances can't be sustained for weeks at a time.’
- ‘Unlike the well-known Hawaii Ironman, the Olympic distance seems much more humane by comparison.’
- ‘The racing distance in the World Championships is governed by time, with the race lasting 40 minutes.’
- ‘You can compete in any Indy race, over any distance and in any car.’
- ‘Because it is the last time you will ever see the distance raced at an international championships indoors.’
- ‘There was a penalty to all this, in that the race distances had to be reduced by one lap from the planned distance.’
- ‘Broken swims are often race distances divided into smaller increments with rest periods after each segment.’
- ‘Up until this point race distances varied and there were no restrictions on the design or construction of boats.’
- ‘The compounds we used in Australia would probably have lasted for three race distances, but some teams have pushed their tyres right to the limit today.’
- ‘This was our first race team test with the two new cars and we were able to complete simulated race distances with Jenson and Takuma.’
- ‘You sweat an awful lot and can lose 2 to 2.5 kg over a race distance.’
- ‘It seems than Bridgestone made a good tyre over a single-lap, their problem in the recent past, but it needs to be improved over the race distance.’
- ‘Tomorrow's slightly shorter distance is her favour as she faces the starter with Jamie Spencer on board.’
- ‘The teams have to walk a distance of 100 miles over the course of ten days.’
- 2.1North American Horse Racing The distance from the winning post which a horse must have reached when the winner finishes in order to qualify for a subsequent heat.
- ‘Most of the "Kentucky horses" made the distance and were able to continue on.’
- 2.2the distanceBoxing The scheduled length of a fight.‘he has won his first five fights inside the distance’
- ‘Hersisia, 29, has won all of his 21 bouts so far with 16 stoppages inside the distance.’
- ‘So they continued until Nijinsky had gone two lengths clear inside the distance.’
- ‘In the same year, Larry had 12 fights, winning all bouts some inside the distance.’
- ‘Arthur has won all 16 of his professional fights so far, 14 inside the distance, and is already ranked 19 in the world.’
- ‘Peralta takes Foreman the distance and loses a unanimous decision.’
3The avoidance of familiarity; aloofness or reserve.
‘a mix of warmth and distance makes a good neighbor’- ‘Dimbleby will be advantaged by the fact that he has never been in BBC programming management and that he has a blend of familiarity yet distance.’
- ‘I wanted her to either slap me or show me some warmth, the emotional distance was too much to bear.’
aloofness, remoteness, detachment, stand-offishness, unfriendliness, haughtiness, hauteur, coolness, coldness, frigidityView synonyms
Pronunciation
transitive verb
[with object]1Make (someone or something) far off or remote in position or nature.
‘her mother wished to distance her from the rough village children’- ‘The very nature of genre fiction distances the reader from these issues.’
- ‘Mahathir has attempted to shore up his position by trying to distance the government from corruption allegations.’
- ‘The strangely melancholy beauty of these places can't be traversed - we're hopelessly distanced from nature.’
- ‘The reason is that there were some bad pagan customs surrounding cemeteries, and he wanted to distance his people from them.’
- ‘Any time things got serious I could pull back and allow for some laughs, which was really a way to distance people.’
- ‘I have had a theory that sending money to charities can distance people from the pain and struggle of others.’
- ‘I am convinced that someone, even several people, had the task of distancing my brother from his family.’
- ‘Flat canvases demanded visual focus; Chen felt this isolated them and distanced her from intimate interaction with them.’
- ‘Their separation had distanced them in mind as well as body.’
- ‘E-mails provide instant communication and yet distance the sender because they're so impersonal.’
- ‘The personal explanation given today will not distance the honourable member from that.’
- ‘He creates a veil between viewer and subject and, with over-emphasis on craft, runs the risk of distancing his audience.’
- ‘We don't really approve of work which distances the mother from the child.’
- ‘And an ever increasing gap distances common man and the cops.’
- ‘He also distances the viewers from the characters, choosing to focus on the collective struggle rather than the more personal ones.’
- ‘Not only does he have to deal with the French barrier, but speaking Patois also distances him from the English-speakers.’
- ‘There is a preposterousness in the book and the script which distances the audience from both the storyline and the characters.’
- ‘Being housed in Melbourne distances them from their major business and fails to respond to future trends.’
- ‘I'm glad it distances me because I'd rather not be sucked into a movie that had it's own paths for me to go down.’
- ‘The emotion is characteristically distanced in the first stanza.’
withdraw, detach, separate, dissociate, remove, isolate, put at a distance, keep at arm's length, set apart, place far offView synonyms- 1.1distance oneself fromDeclare that one is not connected with or a supporter of (someone or something)‘he sought to distance himself from the proposals’
- ‘But distancing ourselves seems to be the only way to lessen the struggle.’
- ‘With The Invisible Man, he was intent on distancing himself as much as possible from the darkness of his past.’
- ‘He turned his back towards me as if distancing himself emotionally from me.’
- ‘Sora huffed rudely, distancing himself away from his cousin as if she was a disease.’
- ‘Subjects further distanced themselves by attributing such experiences to ‘the old me.’’
- ‘You distanced yourself completely from what had happened.’
- ‘However, instead of this helping me get closer with Ben and Kate, I just distanced myself further.’
- ‘Clearly, the Huntingdon Connection distanced itself early on from Marrant and his mission.’
- ‘Father was depressed and distanced himself further from me since then.’
- ‘Though the film is undoubtedly a product of widespread Cold War paranoia, the film distances itself enough to objectify its horrors.’
denounce, disown, reject, condemn, disagree with, wash one's hands of, distance oneself fromView synonyms - 1.2North American Horse Racing Beat (a horse) by a distance.‘He gave way after the first half-mile and was distanced.’
- ‘Sir Archy was distanced in the first two heats, but salvaged the final heat.’
Pronunciation
Phrases
- go the distance
1Boxing
Complete a fight without being knocked out.‘he went the distance after being floored in the first round’- ‘The former WBC champion last year went the distance with Germany's Sven Ottke in an IBF title fight.’
- ‘Who knows what they would have scored had the fight gone the distance?’
- ‘I'm guessing that Ellis would have won a decision if the fight had gone the distance.’
- ‘Hagler: ‘I'm not worried about the rounds because this fight definitely isn't going the distance.‘’
- ‘When a fight goes the distance, a tense interlude settles in while the judges tally the scorecards.’
- ‘If my fights go the distance, it does not bother me.’
- ‘Do you think this fight is going to go the distance?’
- ‘Does anyone think the fight is going to go the distance?’
- ‘The safest bet here, in my eyes, is to bet the fight to go the distance.’
- ‘As with the previous four fights, the fifth went the distance.’
- 1.1(of a boxing match) last the scheduled length.‘six of his fights went the distance’
- ‘In other words, if a bowler didn't put his opponent away early, he was in trouble - especially if the match went the distance.’
- ‘This time he makes no mistake and the match will go the distance.’
- ‘Hunter drew level after the restart but the match looked destined to go the distance as neither man could take control.’
- ‘Although Ali went the distance, the injury took its toll and Norton won on a split decision.’
- ‘Anybody who thinks this thing is going the distance will be disappointed.’
- ‘If he didn't go the distance, he would owe Hopkins $25,000.’
- ‘I definitely expect to go the distance; he's a very durable guy.’
- ‘In 1980 he was finally forced to go the distance against journeyman Cookie Wallace.’
- ‘Whatever happens will happen, but I do not think it is going to go the distance.’
- ‘Lord's was the setting for an historic Test match between two old foes which never seemed likely to go the distance.’
- 1.2Baseball Pitch for the entire length of a game.‘he went the distance on the mound’
- ‘But it had been a little alarming that Maddux, who three times has led the N.L. in complete games, hadn't gone the distance.’
- ‘Wells allowed one run on eight hits, while going the distance on just 100 pitches - with only 19 called balls.’
- ‘Toney went the distance for his 10-inning no-hitter.’
- ‘Ruth went the distance for a 9-3 win, walking two while striking out three.’
- ‘I started against the Dodgers, went the distance, and we beat them, 9-1.’
- ‘Podres went the distance for his 14th victory of the season against three losses.’
- ‘The Phillies won the game, 7-6, in 17 innings, with Roberts going the distance.’
- ‘The odds of a pitcher going the distance are higher when he doesn't waste everyone's time with limp-wristed futility at bat.’
- ‘The club has no pitcher with a complete game, although several have appeared capable of going the distance.’
- ‘Lackey went the distance for the fourth time in 57 career starts, striking out three and walking one.’
- 1.3Last for a long time.‘this amplifier system should go the distance’
- ‘They are prepared to go the distance on the running machine to stay in the playground of youth.’
- ‘The fact that the series even went the distance certainly serves as a testament to the vast improvement that UW has undergone in the past two seasons.’
- ‘When was the last time a move to amend the Constitution went the distance and actually occurred?’
- ‘I threw in a six iron at the green, it went the distance and all of a sudden the eagle chance was there.’
- ‘She has gone the distance so far and she's proved that she is a tough cookie, so we are praying she will keep getting better.’
- ‘But the folks at Altoids have really gone the distance - they hired a cartoon artist and programmer to create an entire role-playing adventure.’
- ‘My goodness, she's gone the distance, hasn't she?’
- ‘They had ‘not gone the distance in trying to reach a compromise on the issue’.’
- ‘Our game plan is to go the distance, in spite of persistent speculation to the contrary.’
- ‘Later, by-the-by, the communion wine jug also went the distance!’
1Stay far away.
‘keep your distance from birds feeding their young’- ‘If equipped with long range weapons they will keep their distance and try to stay away from your reach.’
- ‘So I decided to keep my distance and stay where I was by my car door.’
- ‘Both had done all the right things, the family said - they stayed together, avoided heavy drinking sessions, and kept their distance from local youths.’
- ‘I wished I had stayed in the back of the car and kept my distance, but it was too late.’
- ‘Kevin's eyes stayed locked onto the coffin, and she kept her distance, her feet very solidly planted on the ground.’
- ‘Be accurate, stay focused, be skeptical but never cynical, keep your distance, don't cross what I call the emotional line and listen carefully.’
- ‘We keep our distance, lower our expectations, stay cool, aloof, and separate.’
- ‘Stay with your friends and I'll keep my distance.’
- ‘The centurion tried to keep his distance with his long sword, but Jacomus tried to stay close with his gladius.’
- 1.1Maintain one's reserve.‘you had to say nothing and keep your distance’
- ‘Moses said he saw that the police kept their distance from reserve communities because of a lack of understanding of the people and their culture.’
- ‘Should I keep my distance to maintain my authority or spend time with everyone to make sure things get done?’
- ‘This is a break with the tradition of analysts keeping their distance from the players in the field so as to maintain their objectivity.’
- ‘Better, no doubt, to keep your distance so that you can maintain the coveted adversarial relationship.’
- ‘More arrogant, to me, is the author who keeps his distance from these giants, having a doubtful reservation, than those of us who openly accept them.’
- ‘They opened a discussion in which both freely admitted that, in the past, faith leaders had kept their distance from one another.’
- ‘The headmaster of Settle High School criticised parents who kept their distance from the school.’
- ‘All in all, though, I've kept my distance from such matters.’
- ‘For two years I have kept my thoughts mostly to myself and kept my distance when I couldn't take the rudeness.’
- ‘To a degree I wish I had kept my distance and simply helped her out of that situation as a friend.’
Near enough to hit or achieve something.
‘the aircraft carrier is dispatched to deep waters within striking distance of Moscow’- ‘The Dart is within striking distance and work is well underway on the M50 link near Loughlinstown.’
- ‘This put the Kiwis within striking distance of Canada however not close enough to qualify.’
- ‘Within the past few minutes, Dr. Jim Thompson says they're now within striking distance of living independent lives.’
- ‘In the second half, UW was able to remain a factor in the game as they kept themselves within striking distance of the hot-shooting Gaels.’
- ‘Most of his themes were within striking distance of Gordon Brown's vision of a ‘progressive consensus’ in his speech on Monday.’
- ‘The bombing had been far worse in the North, where we had lived within striking distance of the chemical works at Billingham.’
- ‘Johnstone moved to within striking distance of the 1,000 runs mark by making an unbeaten 77 as Hornsea won by 9 wickets.’
- ‘Morton stands at the stern of her boat, dip net poised, waiting for two pink salmon smolts to swim within striking distance.’
- ‘Would you advocate against rebuilding any city within striking distance of the hurricane breeding grounds?’
- ‘Any tree within striking distance of a use area should be analyzed.’
Near enough to reach by the means specified.
‘the parking lot is within easy walking distance’- ‘he wanted to be within driving distance of his grandparents’
- ‘Don't compare the skill, courage, or attitudes of your children with other members of the team, at least within their hearing distance.’
- ‘As I live within a short walking distance of a river, I was happy to discover that the chance of my home flooding each year is just 1 in 1,000 or less.’
- ‘Number 48 will appeal to those buyers who want a period property in very good condition within walking distance of their place of work.’
- ‘Now, significant clusters have formed within driving distance of airport towns such as Carcassonne and Perpignan.’
- ‘Gelston's men though needed more wickets to keep the run-rate within hailing distance of their own flimsy haul of 126.’
- ‘I wanted a good, quiet midprice restaurant within walking distance: the concierge trotted out three, and offered to reserve a table.’
- ‘As the Lanarkshire club finally moves to within touching distance of breaking even, it will pain him to leave responsibility for it in someone else's hands.’
- ‘No need for transfers as the terminal is within walking distance.’
- ‘How about stopping at the most popular scenic spots that are located within a stones throwing distance from the parking lots?’
- ‘On the trail of jingo-narcissism, it's difficult to stay within shouting distance of television.’
Origin
Middle English (in the sense ‘discord, debate’): from Old French or from Latin distantia, from distant- ‘standing apart’, from the verb distare (see distant).
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