The New Yorker
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Oblong is a general but useful term for describing the shape of things such as leaves. There's no such thing as an oblong circle, since a stretched circle has to be called an oval, and any rectangle that isn't square is oblong, at least if it's lying on its side (such rectangles can actually be called oblongs). Pills are generally oblong rather than round, to slide down the throat more easily. An oblong table will often fit a living space better than a square or round one with the same area. And people are always buried in oblong boxes.
Examples of oblong in a Sentence
Johna Burdeos, Health, 6 Aug. 2024
Today, in similar fashion, most concert halls feature a forecourt or lobby and then an oblong space approximately two thirds of the hall’s total length for the audience.
—Lynn Whidden, Scientific American, 26 July 2024
Max Springer, Scientific American, 7 Aug. 2024
Its shape varies from round to oblong, and its rind is green to brownish spiky.
—Johna Burdeos, Health, 6 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for oblong 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'oblong.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Oblong.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oblong. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.
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