Word forms: plural, 3rd person singular presenttense inches, present participle inching, past tense, past participle inched
1. countable noun [num NOUN]
An inch is an imperial unit of length, approximately equal to 2.54 centimetres. There are twelve inches in a foot.
...a candy tin 6 inches high and 8 inches in diameter.
...18 inches below the surface.
2. verb
To inch somewhere or to inch something somewhere means to move there very slowly and carefully, or to make something do this.
...a climber inching up a vertical wall of rock. [VERB preposition/adverb]
He inched the van forward. [VERB noun preposition/adverb]
An ambulance inched its way through the crowd. [VERB noun preposition/adverb]
3.
See every inch
4.
See every inch
5.
See inch by inch
inch in British English1
(ɪntʃ)
noun
1.
a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot or 0.0254 metre
2. meteorology
a.
an amount of precipitation that would cover a surface with water one inch deep
five inches of rain fell in January
b.
a unit of pressure equal to a mercury column one inch high in a barometer
3.
a very small distance, degree, or amount
4. every inch
5. inch by inch
6. within an inch of
verb
7.
to move or be moved very slowly or in very small steps
the car inched forward
8. (transitive; foll byout)
to defeat (someone) by a very small margin
Word origin
Old English ynce, from Latin uncia twelfth part; see ounce1
inch in British English2
(ɪntʃ)
noun
Scottish and Irish
a small island
Word origin
C15: from Gaelic innis island; compare Welsh ynys
inch in American English1
(ɪntʃ)
noun
1.
a unit of length in the FPS system, equal to 1⁄12 foot (2.54 cm)
symbol, ″: abbrev. in
2.
a fall (of rain, snow, etc.) equal to the amount that would cover a surface to the depth of one inch
3.
a unit of pressure as measured by a barometer or manometer, equal to the pressure balanced by the weight on a one-inch column of liquid, usually mercury, in the instrument
4.
a very small amount, degree, or distance; trifle; bit
verb transitive, verb intransitive
5.
to move by inches or degrees; move very slowly
Idioms:
every inch
inch by inch
within an inch of
within an inch of one's life
Word origin
ME inche < OE ynce < L uncia, twelfth part, inch, ounce1
inch in American English2
(ɪntʃ)
noun
in Scotland and Ireland, an isolated piece of land, as a small island or hill
Word origin
ME < Gael innis, island
More idioms containing
inch
to within an inch of your life
give someone an inch and they'll take a mile
come within an inch of doing something
Examples of 'inch' in a sentence
inch
They know within a matter of inches which way they can move without being shot.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It's skill not inches that makes a good lover but many men take some convincing.
The Sun (2016)
In any case, it is skill and not inches that makes a good lover.
The Sun (2016)
I am doing it up myself and the whole house is covered in an inch of dust.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The next morning I wake up to find a foot inches from my face.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
I've done the sums to see which famous faces took up the most column inches.
The Sun (2016)
There's not one inch that isn't covered by some sort of building.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
My thumb width is an inch, my foot is a foot, my stride is a yard.
The Sun (2016)
It is perfectly possible to look businesslike and smart without a heel'two to four inches' high.
The Sun (2017)
Not just a gentle nibble as our Shetland sheep do lower down, but a strip of bark half an inch deep.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The balance beam is only twelve inches off the fully carpeted floor.
Christianity Today (2000)
The soles are thick and rubbery and a good inch deep at the heel.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
This can cause a substantial hole perhaps up to two inches in diameter.
Andy Dougan THE HUNTING OF MAN (2004)
There is hardly an inch of wall left uncovered.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Computer sensors allow him to store cars just inches apart.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
They should move not an inch towards its agenda.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Some inside walls were covered in an inch of moss.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It has had almost as many column inches devoted to it as his yogurt.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Place on the fold line and inch across the surface in the direction of the pile.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
They must not be moved one inch.
Hyland, Paul Indian Balm - Travels in the Southern Subcontinent (1994)
Skirt no higher than two inches above the knee?
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Yet it defied the laws of physics to inch forward.
The Sun (2007)
They are one and a quarter inch in length.
Lesley Adkins EMPIRES OF THE PLAIN: Henry Rawlinson and the Lost Languages of Babylon (2003)
Six foot four inches is the optimum height for a guy.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Better to inch your way to fitness than go hell for leather but stall after a week.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Each thigh is now half an inch smaller.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
We were slowly inching forward along the road.
Oliver Poole BLACK KNIGHTS: On the Bloody Road to Baghdad (2003)
Set them just an inch or two deeper than they were in the pot.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Pilots can take the craft within inches of rock walls at obscene speeds.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
All that he could do was to keep his foot to the floor and watch his car inch past truck after truck.
Hambly, Dr Kenneth Banish Anxiety - how to stop worrying and take charge of your life (1991)
He looked an inch or so taller, and a great many years younger.
Frances Hodgson Burnett Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886)
Word lists with
inch
Imperial system
In other languages
inch
British English: inch /ɪntʃ/ NOUN
An inch is a unit of length, equal to 2.54 centimetres.
Dig a hole 18 inches deep.
American English: inch
Arabic: بُوصَةُ
Brazilian Portuguese: polegada
Chinese: 英寸
Croatian: inč
Czech: palec jednotka délky
Danish: tomme
Dutch: inch
European Spanish: pulgada
Finnish: tuuma mittayksikkö
French: pouce mesure
German: Zoll Maß
Greek: ίντσα
Italian: pollice
Japanese: インチ
Korean: 인치
Norwegian: tomme
Polish: cal
European Portuguese: polegada
Romanian: țol
Russian: дюйм
Latin American Spanish: pulgada
Swedish: tum
Thai: นิ้ว
Turkish: inç
Ukrainian: дюйм
Vietnamese: inch
British English: inch VERB
To inch somewhere means to move there very slowly and carefully, or to make something do this.
...a climber inching up a vertical wall of rock.
American English: inch
Brazilian Portuguese: mover-se lenta e cuidadosamente
Chinese: 缓慢地移动
European Spanish: avanzar lentamente
French: avancer peu à peu
German: sich vorarbeiten
Italian: avanzare lentamente
Japanese: 徐々に動く/徐々に動かす
Korean: 조금씩 움직이다
European Portuguese: mover-se lenta e cuidadosamente
Latin American Spanish: avanzar lentamente
All related terms of 'inch'
acre-inch
the volume of water that would cover an area of 1 acre to a depth of 1 inch ; one twelfth of an acre-foot : equivalent to 3630 cubic feet or 102.8 cubic metres
half-inch
a measure of length approximately equivalent to 13 millimetres
inch by inch
If someone or something moves inch by inch , they move very slowly and carefully.
column inch
a unit of measurement for advertising space, one inch deep and one column wide
every inch
If you talk about every inch of an area, you are emphasizing that you mean the whole of it.
square inch
a unit of area measurement equal to a square measuring one inch on each side; 6.452 square centimeters
twelve-inch
a gramophone record 12 inches in diameter and played at 45 revolutions per minute, usually containing an extended remix of a single
water-inch
a former unit of hydraulic measure, calculated as the discharge of water through a circular opening one inch in diameter and equal to about fourteen pints per minute
within an inch of
very close to
within an inch of one's life
almost to the point of death
to within an inch of your life
very severely
come within an inch of doing something
to very nearly do something
give someone an inch and they'll take a mile
said to mean that if you do a small favour for someone, they will become greedy and ask you to do bigger and bigger favours for them and make you regret doing the first favour
Chinese translation of 'inch'
inch
(ɪntʃ)
n(c)
英寸 (yīngcùn)
vi
to inch forward/up一点(點)一点(點)地向前/上 (yīdiǎn yīdiǎn de xiàngqián/shàng)
vt
to inch sth forward/up一点(點)一点(點)地使某物向前/上 (yīdiǎn yīdiǎn de shǐ mǒuwù xiàngqián/shàng)
we searched every inch of the house我们(們)彻(徹)底地搜查了那间(間)房子 (wǒmen chèdǐ de sōuchále nà jiān fángzi)
he didn't give an inch (= back down, yield) 他寸步不让(讓) (tā cùn bù bù ràng)
Seein
All related terms of 'inch'
in.
inch 英寸 yīngcùn
to inch forward/up
一点(點)一点(點)地向前/上 yīdiǎn yīdiǎn de xiàngqián/shàng
he didn't give an inch
( back down, yield ) 他寸步不让(讓) tā cùn bù bù ràng
to inch sth forward/up
一点(點)一点(點)地使某物向前/上 yīdiǎn yīdiǎn de shǐ mǒuwù xiàngqián/shàng
we searched every inch of the house
我们(們)彻(徹)底地搜查了那间(間)房子 wǒmen chèdǐ de sōuchále nà jiān fángzi