by a long chalk
prep_phrase/ˌbaɪ‿ə ˌlɒŋ ˈt͡ʃɔːk/UK/ˌbaɪ‿ə ˌlɔŋ ˈt͡ʃɔk/US
Etymology
A reference to the practice of writing the scores of games on boards using chalk.
Definitions
To a great extent
To a great extent; by far.
- Bowring was a man of few words; he said, "Blaze away, my boy." And I tried to. But it was no use; I had got out of the style; my writing was too literary by a long chalk.
- The world's a stage, they say; but the show ain't always amusing, by a long chalk, and sometimes I wish I didn't have a reserved seat.
The neighborhood
Vish — recursive loop
No curated loop yet for by a long chalk. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.
sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA