English · Idiom Candidate

by a long chalk

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

By far.

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

He thought ‘ isself too good for the Flowers by a long chalk, he did.

Oh naw, not by a long, long chalk.

British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).

Common questions

What does “by a long chalk” mean?

By far.

Is “by a long chalk” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.

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