Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English - space

~1 n 1 »AMOUNT OF SPACE« the amount of an area, room, container etc that is empty or available to be used  (There's space for a table and two chairs. | How much space is there on each disk? | make space)  (I'm trying to make space for all Tom's canoeing gear. | leave space)  (Leave enough space for the suitcases. | closet/cupboard/office space)  (There's plenty of closet space in our new apartment. | sense/feeling of space (=the feeling that a room has plenty of space))  (Mirrors give a sense of space.)  (- see place1) 2 »PIECE OF SPACE« an area, especially one used for a particular purpose  (a parking space | There was just an empty space where the book had been. | clear a space)  (Lucy cleared a space on her desk for her new computer.) 3 »BETWEEN EARTH AND STARS« the area outside the Earth's air where the stars and planets are  (space travel | outer space (=far away in space))  (creatures from outer space) 4 »ALL AROUND EVERYTHING« all of the space in which everything exists, and in which everything has a position or direction  (the exact point in space where two lines meet | beyond the dimensions of space and time) 5 »BETWEEN THINGS« an empty space between two things, or between two parts of something; gap1 (1)  (The children hid in the space between the wall and the shed.) 6 »TIME« a) in/during the space of within a particular period of time  (Mandy had four children in the space of four years.) b) a short space of time a short period of time during which a lot of things happen  (It's amazing how well we knew each other after such a short space of time.) 7 »EMPTY LAND« land, or an area of land that has not been built on  (open space)  (a pleasant town centre with plenty of open space | wide open spaces)  (the wide open spaces of the prairies) 8 »IN WRITING« a) an empty space between written or printed words, lines etc b) the width of a typed letter of the alphabet  (The word `the' takes up three spaces.) c) a place provided for you to write your name or other information on a document, piece of paper etc  (Please write any comments in the space provided.) 9 »IN A NEWSPAPER« the amount of space in a newspaper, magazine or book that is used for a particular subject  (Endless space has been devoted to Princess Di.) 10 »FREEDOM« the freedom to do what you want or do things on your own, especially in a relationship with someone else  (I've split up with Phil because I need more space.) 11 look/stare into space to look straight in front of you without looking at anything in particular, usually because you are thinking  (What's wrong with Jenny? She's just been staring into space all day.)  (- see also breathing space) ~2 v also space out 1 T always + adv/prep to arrange objects or events so that they have equal spaces or periods of time between them  (space sth out/along etc)  (Try to space out your classes and study in between. | Space the desks one metre apart. | be evenly spaced (=with equal spaces)) 2 also space out AmE informal to stop paying attention and just look in front of you without thinking, especially because you are bored or because you have taken drugs  (I was so tired I just spaced out, completely unable to concentrate.)  (- see also spaced out)