Meanings
nounlengthening (plural lengthenings)
plural lengthenings
- The process of making or growing longer.
This enabled an additional 15-20 containers to be carried per train, giving a 20% productivity gain, and was partly enabled by Network Rail completing the lengthening of loops on the route northwards from Southampton via Banbury.
2021 September 22, “National Rail Awards 2021: Train Lengthening”, in RAIL, number 940, page 56 - human sciencesa type of sound change when a sound (especially a vowel) lengthens
verb
- gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of lengthen
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe act of prolonging something
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Ancient Greek ἐπέκτασις
- ἐπέκτασις (epéktasis)sound change
Finnish pidentyminen
- pidentyminensound change
French allongement
- allongementsound change
German Längung
- Längungsound change
Hungarian nyúlás
- nyúlássound change
Japanese 延長
- 延長 (enchō)sound change
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with lengthening
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
lengthening. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lengthening
MLA
“lengthening.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lengthening. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lengthening,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lengthening.
Source: lengthening on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.