ex·tent ( k-st nt )n. 1. a. The range, magnitude, or distance over which a thing extends: landowners unaware of the extent of their own holdings. b. The degree to which a thing extends: prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. 2. An extensive space or area: an extent of desert. 3. Law a. A writ allowing a creditor to assume temporary ownership of a debtor's property. b. In Great Britain, a writ allowing a creditor to seize a debtor's property temporarily. c. The seizure in execution of such a writ. 4. Archaic An assessment or valuation, as of land in Britain, especially for taxation. [Middle English extente, assessment on land, from Anglo-Norman, from feminine past participle of extendre, to extend, from Latin extendere; see extend.] |
extent [ɪkˈstɛnt]
Extent
by a long chalk By a large amount, by a great degree, by far. This colloquial British expression derives from the practice of using chalk marks to keep score in various games. Thus, a “long chalk” would be a large number of marks or points—a high score. The equivalent American expression is by a long shot and both are frequently heard in the negative—not by a long chalk or shot.
by a long shot By a great deal, by far, by a considerable extent. This U.S. expression was in print as early as the 1870s.
That’s more’n I’d done by a long shot. (Edward Eggleston, Hoosier Schoolmaster, 1872)
A long shot is a contestant in any competition, most commonly athletic or political, with little chance of winning; therefore, with high odds in the betting. By extension, the phrase has come to refer to any bet or undertaking having little chance of success but great potential should the unexpected occur. Long shot connotes greatness of quantity or quality, if only in potential. Therefore, by a long shot means ‘by a large amount or degree,’ and the negative not by a long shot means ‘not at all,’ ‘in no way, shape or form,’ or ‘hopelessly out of the question.’
by a long sight By a considerable amount; a great deal; to a large extent. Sight in this expression may carry its meaning of ‘range or field of vision,’ and hence, indicate distance. By further extension, long sight in this Americanism refers to great quantity or degree rather than spatial distance. This expression dates from the early 19th century and is most frequently heard in the negative. Other variants are interchangeable with long, as in the following quotation from Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn:
I asked her if she reckoned Tom’sawyer would go there, and she said not by a considerable sight.
by a nose By an extremely narrow margin, just barely, by a hair or whisker. The allusion is to a horse race in which the winner crosses the finish line only a nose ahead of his rival. This U.S. slang expression dates from the early part of the 20th century.
Flying Cloud slipped by the pair and won on the post by a nose in one forty nine! (L. Mitchell, New York Idea, 1908)
higher than Gilderoy’s kite Very high, higher than a kite, out of sight.
She squandered millions of francs on a navy … and the first time she took her new toy into action she got it knocked higher than Gilderoy’s kite—to use the language of the Pilgrims. (Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad, 1869)
This chiefly U.S. expression is apparently a truncated version of hung higher than Gilderoy’s kite ‘to be punished more severely than the very worst of criminals.’ The allusion is to the hanging of the notorious Scottish highwayman, Patrick Macgregor, nicknamed Gilderoy, and five of his gang in Edinburgh in 1636. According to legal custom at the time, the greater the crime, the higher the gallows, and so it was with the gallows of Gilderoy that towered above those of his companions. As for the kite in the expression, two explanations have been offered. One is that Gilderoy was hung so high that he looked like a kite in the sky. The other, more scholarly, is based on the fact that kite or kyte meant ‘the stomach, the belly’ in Scottish and by extension was probably used to denote the whole body.
out of all scotch and notch Beyond all bounds or limits; incalculable, immeasurable, unlimited, unbounded. Rarely heard today, this expression is said to refer to the boundary lines, or scotches, and the corners, or notches, used in the children’s game of hopscotch.
The pleasure which you have done unto me, is out of all scotch and notch. (Martin Marprelate, Hay any Work for Cooper, 1589)
room to swing a cat Plentiful space; ample room; a large area. This expression has several possible origins, none of them particularly plausible. One theory alludes to the sailors’ pastime of twirling a cat about by the tail, while another possibility refers to the former training exercise in which a cat was suspended in a bottle and shot at for target practice. Cat was also an old Scottish word for rogue; thus, the expression may have derived from the amount of room necessary to hang a wrongdoer. In any case, the phrase is often applied negatively to describe a lack of space or cramped quarters.
June, I am pent up in a frowzy lodging, where there is not room enough to swing a cat. (Tobias Smollett, Expedition of Humphry Clinker, 1771)
extend, extent - Are based on Latin pandere, "stretch."
| Noun | 1. | extent - the point or degree to which something extends; "the extent of the damage"; "the full extent of the law"; "to a certain extent she was right" |
| 2. | extent - the distance or area or volume over which something extends; "the vast extent of the desert"; "an orchard of considerable extent" magnitude - the property of relative size or extent (whether large or small); "they tried to predict the magnitude of the explosion"; "about the magnitude of a small pea" coverage - the extent to which something is covered; "the dictionary's coverage of standard English is excellent" frontage - the extent of land abutting on a street or water limit, bound, boundary - the greatest possible degree of something; "what he did was beyond the bounds of acceptable behavior"; "to the limit of his ability" ambit, range, scope, reach, compass, orbit - an area in which something acts or operates or has power or control: "the range of a supersonic jet"; "a piano has a greater range than the human voice"; "the ambit of municipal legislation"; "within the compass of this article"; "within the scope of an investigation"; "outside the reach of the law"; "in the political orbit of a world power" surface area, expanse, area - the extent of a 2-dimensional surface enclosed within a boundary; "the area of a rectangle"; "it was about 500 square feet in area" length - the property of being the extent of something from beginning to end; "the editor limited the length of my article to 500 words" |
extent
the extent of the problem → el alcance or la envergadura del problema
we did not know the extent of his injuries until later → no tuvimos conocimiento del alcance de sus lesiones hasta más tarde
to what extent? → ¿hasta qué punto?
to a certain or to some extent → hasta cierto punto
to a large extent → en gran parte or medida
to a small extent → en menor grado
to such an extent that → hasta tal punto que
to the extent of (= as far as) → hasta el punto de; (in money) → por la cantidad de
to that extent, she is right → en ese sentido, ella tiene razón
the full extent of the problem → toute l'étendue du problème
to some extent, to a certain extent → dans une certaine mesure
to a large extent → en grande partie
to what extent? → dans quelle mesure?, jusqu'à quel point?
to the extent of doing sth → au point de faire qch
to such an extent that ... → à tel point que ...
to what extent → in che misura, fino a che punto
to a certain/large extent → in certa/larga misura
to such an extent that → a tal punto che
to the extent of → fino al punto di
to some extent → fino a un certo punto
Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content.
| ?Page tools | ||
|---|---|---|
|