Definition: distance

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

distance
     n 1: the property created by the space between two objects or
          points
     2: a distant region; "I could see it in the distance"
     3: size of the gap between two places; "the distance from New
        York to Chicago"; "he determined the length of the
        shortest line segment joining the two points" [syn: length]
     4: indifference by personal withdrawal; "emotional distance"
        [syn: aloofness]
     5: the interval between two times; "the distance from birth to
        death"; "it all happened in the space of 10 minutes" [syn:
         space]
     6: a remote point in time; "if that happens it will be at some
        distance in the future"; "at a distance of ten years he
        had forgotten many of the details"
     v 1: keep at a distance
     2: go far ahead of; "He outdistanced the other runners" [syn: outdistance,
         outstrip]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Distance \Dis"tance\, n. [F. distance, L. distantia.]
   1. The space between two objects; the length of a line,
      especially the shortest line joining two points or things
      that are separate; measure of separation in place.

            Every particle attracts every other with a force . .
            . inversely proportioned to the square of the
            distance.                             --Sir I.
                                                  Newton.

   2. Remoteness of place; a remote place.

            Easily managed from a distance.       --W. Irving.

            'T is distance lends enchantment to the view. --T.
                                                  Campbell.

            [He] waits at distance till he hears from Cato.
                                                  --Addison.

Distance \Dis"tance\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Distanced; p. pr. &
   vb. n. Distancing.]
   1. To place at a distance or remotely.

            I heard nothing thereof at Oxford, being then miles
            distanced thence.                     --Fuller.

   2. To cause to appear as if at a distance; to make seem
      remote.

            His peculiar art of distancing an object to
            aggrandize his space.                 --H. Miller.

   3. To outstrip by as much as a distance (see Distance, n.,
      3); to leave far behind; to surpass greatly.

            He distanced the most skillful of his
            contemporaries.                       --Milner.

DISTANCE, n.  The only thing that the rich are willing for the poor to
call theirs, and keep.