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prolong

/prəˈlɔːŋ/·verb

to make something last longer
Fig. 1 — The clock says the match is over, and nobody stops playing.
01Definition

To prolong is to give something more time than it was going to have: applause prolongs a curtain call, treatment prolongs a life, a referee prolongs a match by exactly the minutes it lost. From Latin pro- 'forward' plus longus 'long' — length pushed forward, and always in time; that is its border with extend, which works just as happily in space. The judgement tilts with context — a life prolonged gladly, a dispute prolonged grudgingly — and its cousin protract does the outright complaining (protracted negotiations).

02In use
  • iThe referee prolonged the match by five minutes of stoppage time.
  • iiDoctors said the new therapy could prolong life by several years.
  • iiiNeither side wanted to prolong a dispute that was costing them both money.
03Collocations
  • prolong life
  • prolong the agony
  • prolong a stay
  • a prolonged period
  • unduly prolonged

Family prolonged (adjective) · prolongation (noun)

04Relations

=extend, lengthen, protract, sustain, draw out

≠shorten, curtail, cut short

06TOEFL & IELTS

Time only — the tell that separates it from extend: you extend a deadline or a fence, but you prolong only the meeting. The participle is the academic workhorse: prolonged exposure, prolonged drought, a prolonged period of low rates — exactly the phrase Task 1 wants for a long flat stretch on a graph. The set idiom prolong the agony (drag out an unpleasant ending) is everyday speech. And do not reach for it when you mean postpone: prolonging keeps a thing running; postponing moves it later.

07Asked
What is the difference between prolong and extend?
Prolong stretches only time; extend also works in space — and beyond that line, the two differ in attitude. Extend is deliberate and neutral-to-positive: you apply to extend a visa, a deadline, a stay. Prolong often happens to you, and often unwelcomely — a prolonged hospital stay, a prolonged dispute, delays that prolonged the journey. When a guest extends a visit, they wanted more; when a visit is prolonged, the airline may be to blame.
What is the difference between prolong and postpone?
Whether the thing has started. Prolong stretches something already running — the match in the scene above is prolonged: it began at three and simply refuses to end on time. Postpone moves the start of something that has not begun: the match is postponed to Sunday. Delay can do either, which is why the precise pair is worth keeping straight.
What does 'prolong the agony' mean?
To drag out an unpleasant ending that everyone can already see coming — classically the wait for results, verdicts or bad news: 'just tell me now; don't prolong the agony'. The register is informal-conversational, and the phrase is nearly always an appeal to stop. It works because it inverts the verb's usual logic: here, more time is the last thing anyone wants.
Can you prolong a shape, or only elongate it?
Only elongate — elongate is physical: it stretches shapes and objects in space — exercise elongates the muscles, El Greco elongated his figures. Prolong is temporal: it stretches events and states in time. A queue, usefully, shows both at work — the barrier elongates the queue's shape; the extra passport checks prolong the queuing.
Is 'prolonged' always negative?
Leaning negative, not locked there. Academic prose uses it neutrally as a duration label — prolonged exposure, a prolonged period of low rates — but in everyday use the participle keeps company with unpleasant things: prolonged silence, prolonged uncertainty, prolonged drought. Where the extra time is welcome, English usually reaches for extended instead: an extended holiday, extended opening hours.