TITLE: Which way is length and which way is width?
QUESTION [15 upvotes]: I hear people refer to the dimensions of things as "$2$ by $4$" etc. and I know its length by width, but I can't tell if the length dimension is vertical (up and down) or horizontal (side to side). Does anyone know?

REPLY [2 votes]: The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines width as the measurement of the shortest or shorter side of an object. Similarly that dictionary defines length as the longer or longest dimension of an object. It also defines length as the longer or vertical dimension of a piece of a clothing. Now this is just a bit of "tailoring", that it is common to use elbow-length for measuring the sleeves (vertical) of a shirt, and waist-width (horizontal) of trousers. (It is a different matter if someone's waist-width is more than their elbow length, which is quite possible)