dis‧tance 1 S2 W2 / dɪstəns / 名词
1 amount of space [可数和不可数名词] the amount of space between two places or things
distance from/between
the distance from Chicago to Detroit
Measure the distance between the two points.
The cottage is some distance (= quite a long distance ) from the road.
at a distance of 2 feet/10 metres etc
A shark can smell blood at a distance of half a kilometer.
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In everyday English, when talking about how far something is, people often use an expression such as how far or a long/short way rather than the 名词 distance : What is the distance from Chicago to Detroit? ➔ How far is it from Chicago to Detroit? | The cottage is some distance from the road. ➔ The cottage is a long way from the road.
2 far away [单数形式] used to talk about a situation when something is far away from you in space or time
in the distance
Church bells rang in the distance (= they were far away ) .
at/from a distance
We watched from a distance.
3 unfriendly feeling [单数形式] a situation in which two people do not have a close friendly relationship
distance between
There was still a distance between me and my father.
4 keep your distance
a) to stay far enough away from someone or something to be safe :
A lighthouse on the cliff warns ships to keep their distance.
b) ( also keep somebody at a distance ) to avoid becoming too friendly with someone :
The neighbours tend to keep their distance.
5 go the (full) distance informal to finish something you have started :
Do you think Greg will go the distance this time?
→ long-distance , middle distance
COLLOCATIONS
形容词
a long/great/considerable distance The sound of guns seemed a long distance away.
a short distance I quickly walked the short distance to the car.
a safe distance (= enough space to be safe ) You should keep a safe distance from the car in front.
some distance (= quite a long distance ) He heard a scream some distance away.
vast distances The aircraft is able to carry huge loads over vast distances.
the stopping/braking distance (= how far you travel in a car after pressing the brakes ) What’s the stopping distance at 30 miles an hour?
动词
travel a great/long etc distance In some countries children must travel great distances to school each day.
measure the distance between things Now we are able to measure the distances between the planets.
judge distances (= judge how much space there is between things ) Animals that hunt can judge distances very well.
短语
within (easy) walking distance (= near enough to walk to easily ) There are lots of restaurants within walking distance.
within travelling/commuting/driving distance of something (= near enough to make travel to or from a place possible ) The job was not within travelling distance of my home.
within striking distance of something (= not far from something, especially something you are going to attack ) Their troops had advanced to within striking distance of the town.
within spitting distance informal (= very near something ) The ball passed within spitting distance of the goal.
put some distance between yourself and somebody/something (= go quite a long way from them ) He wanted to put some distance between himself and his pursuers.