inch
1 Americannoun
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a unit of length, 1/12 (0.0833) foot, equivalent to 2.54 centimeters. in.
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a very small amount of anything; narrow margin.
to win by an inch;
to avert disaster by an inch.
verb (used with or without object)
idioms
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every inch, in every respect; completely.
That horse is every inch a thoroughbred.
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within an inch of, nearly; close to.
He came within an inch of getting killed in the crash.
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by inches,
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narrowly; by a narrow margin.
escaped by inches.
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Also inch by inch. by small degrees or stages; gradually.
The miners worked their way through the narrow shaft inch by inch.
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noun
noun
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a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot or 0.0254 metre
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meteorol
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an amount of precipitation that would cover a surface with water one inch deep
five inches of rain fell in January
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a unit of pressure equal to a mercury column one inch high in a barometer
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a very small distance, degree, or amount
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in every way; completely
he was every inch an aristocrat
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gradually; little by little
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very close to
verb
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to move or be moved very slowly or in very small steps
the car inched forward
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to defeat (someone) by a very small margin
noun
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A unit of length in the US Customary System equal to 1/12 of a foot (2.54 centimeters).
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See Table at measurement
Etymology
Origin of inch1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English inch(e), unch(e), enche, Old English ynce, from Latin uncia “twelfth part, inch, ounce”; ounce 1
Origin of inch2
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English, from Scots Gaelic innse, genitive of innis “island,” Old Irish inis, cognate with Welsh ynys, Breton enez
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Nevertheless, on Saturday morning just before the strikes, life in Tehran was moving at its usual pace, taxis and buses were inching through mid-morning traffic and people were running errands.
From Barron's
Instead of the floodwaters faced that past spring, the dried, midsummer dirt floor was so hard that even with many men working, the hole deepened only a few inches each hour.
From Literature
“Overall, Eurozone nominal GDP growth could inch up to 4.5% annually for the next four to five years,” the strategists write, leading to higher earnings from European companies that support higher valuations for their stocks.
From Barron's
Viral clips of the snowball fight have made the rounds on TikTok and X in the days since a storm dumped nearly 20 inches of snow on the city.
From BBC
The home next door felt inches, not feet, away.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
