What is "in the long run"

Long \Long\, a. [Compar. Longer; superl. Longest.] [AS. long, lang; akin to OS, OFries., D., & G. lang, Icel. langr, Sw. l[*a]ng, Dan. lang, Goth. laggs, L. longus. [root]125. Cf. Length, Ling a fish, Linger, Lunge, Purloin.]

1. Drawn out in a line, or in the direction of length; protracted; extended; as, a long line; -- opposed to short, and distinguished from broad or wide.

2. Drawn out or extended in time; continued through a considerable tine, or to a great length; as, a long series of events; a long debate; a long drama; a long history; a long book.

3. Slow in passing; causing weariness by length or duration; lingering; as, long hours of watching.

4. Occurring or coming after an extended interval; distant in time; far away.

   The we may us reserve both fresh and strong Against the tournament, which is not long.
   --Spenser.

5. Having a length of the specified measure; of a specified length; as, a span long; a yard long; a mile long, that is, extended to the measure of a mile, etc.

6. Far-reaching; extensive. `` Long views.''
   --Burke.

7. (Phonetics) Prolonged, or relatively more prolonged, in utterance; -- said of vowels and syllables. See Short, a., 13, and Guide to Pronunciation, [sect][sect] 22, 30.

8. (Finance & Com.) Having a supply of stocks or goods; prepared for, or depending for a profit upon, advance in prices; as, long of cotton. Hence, the phrases: to be, or go, long of the market, to be on the long side of the market, to hold products or securities for a rise in price, esp. when bought on a margin. Contrasted to short. Note: Long is used as a prefix in a large number of compound adjectives which are mostly of obvious meaning; as, long-armed, long-beaked, long-haired, long-horned, long-necked, long-sleeved, long-tailed, long- worded, etc. In the long run, in the whole course of things taken together; in the ultimate result; eventually. Long clam (Zo["o]l.), the common clam ( Mya arenaria) of the Northern United States and Canada; -- called also soft-shell clam and long-neck clam. See Mya. Long cloth, a kind of cotton cloth of superior quality. Long clothes, clothes worn by a young infant, extending below the feet. Long division. (Math.) See Division. Long dozen, one more than a dozen; thirteen. Long home, the grave. Long measure, Long meter. See under Measure, Meter. Long Parliament (Eng. Hist.), the Parliament which assembled Nov. 3, 1640, and was dissolved by Cromwell, April 20, 1653. Long price, the full retail price. Long purple (Bot.), a plant with purple flowers, supposed to be the Orchis mascula. --Dr. Prior. Long suit

   1. (Whist), a suit of which one holds originally more than three cards.
      --R. A. Proctor.

   2. One's most important resource or source of strength; as, as an entertainer, her voice was her long suit. Long tom.

      1. A pivot gun of great length and range, on the dock of a vessel.

      2. A long trough for washing auriferous earth. [Western U.S.]

   3. (Zo["o]l.) The long-tailed titmouse.

      Long wall (Coal Mining), a working in which the whole seam is removed and the roof allowed to fall in, as the work progresses, except where passages are needed.

      Of long, a long time. [Obs.]
      --Fairfax.

      To be long of the market, or To go long of the market, To be on the long side of the market, etc. (Stock Exchange), to hold stock for a rise in price, or to have a contract under which one can demand stock on or before a certain day at a stipulated price; -- opposed to short in such phrases as, to be short of stock, to sell short, etc. [Cant] See Short.

      To have a long head, to have a farseeing or sagacious mind.

Run \Run\, n.

1. The act of running; as, a long run; a good run; a quick run; to go on the run.

2. A small stream; a brook; a creek.

3. That which runs or flows in the course of a certain operation, or during a certain time; as, a run of must in wine making; the first run of sap in a maple orchard.

4. A course; a series; that which continues in a certain course or series; as, a run of good or bad luck.

   They who made their arrangements in the first run of misadventure . . . put a seal on their calamities.
   --Burke.

5. State of being current; currency; popularity.

   It is impossible for detached papers to have a general run, or long continuance, if not diversified with humor.
   --Addison.

6. Continued repetition on the stage; -- said of a play; as, to have a run of a hundred successive nights.

   A canting, mawkish play . . . had an immense run.
   --Macaulay.

7. A continuing urgent demand; especially, a pressure on a bank or treasury for payment of its notes.

8. A range or extent of ground for feeding stock; as, a sheep run.
   --Howitt.

9. (Naut.)

   1. The aftermost part of a vessel's hull where it narrows toward the stern, under the quarter.

   2. The distance sailed by a ship; as, a good run; a run of fifty miles.

   3. A voyage; as, a run to China.

10. A pleasure excursion; a trip. [Colloq.]

    I think of giving her a run in London.
    --Dickens.

11. (Mining) The horizontal distance to which a drift may be carried, either by license of the proprietor of a mine or by the nature of the formation; also, the direction which a vein of ore or other substance takes.

12. (Mus.) A roulade, or series of running tones.

13. (Mil.) The greatest degree of swiftness in marching. It is executed upon the same principles as the double-quick, but with greater speed.

14. The act of migrating, or ascending a river to spawn; -- said of fish; also, an assemblage or school of fishes which migrate, or ascend a river for the purpose of spawning.

15. (Sport) In baseball, a complete circuit of the bases made by a player, which enables him to score one point; also, the point thus scored; in cricket, a passing from one wicket to the other, by which one point is scored; as, a player made three runs; the side went out with two hundred runs; the Yankees scored three runs in the seventh inning.

    The ``runs'' are made from wicket to wicket, the batsmen interchanging ends at each run.
    --R. A. Proctor.

16. A pair or set of millstones.

17. (Piquet, Cribbage, etc.) A number of cards of the same suit in sequence; as, a run of four in hearts.

18. (Golf)

    1. The movement communicated to a golf ball by running.

    2. The distance a ball travels after touching the ground from a stroke. At the long run, now, commonly, In the long run, in or during the whole process or course of things taken together; in the final result; in the end; finally. [Man] starts the inferior of the brute animals, but he surpasses them in the long run. --J. H. Newman. Home run.

       1. A running or returning toward home, or to the point from which the start was made. Cf. Home stretch.

       2. (Baseball) See under Home.

          The run, or The common run, or The run of the mill etc., ordinary persons; the generality or average of people or things; also, that which ordinarily occurs; ordinary current, course, or kind.

          I saw nothing else that is superior to the common run of parks.
          --Walpole.

          Burns never dreamed of looking down on others as beneath him, merely because he was conscious of his own vast superiority to the common run of men.
          --Prof. Wilson.

          His whole appearance was something out of the common run.
          --W. Irving.

          To let go by the run (Naut.), to loosen and let run freely, as lines; to let fall without restraint, as a sail.

adv. (context idiomatic English) After a very long time; eventually; over a long period of time; more generally.

adv. after a very lengthy period of time; "she will succeed in the long run" [syn: in the end]