[inch] 
| 1. | a unit of length, 1/12 foot, equivalent to 2.54 centimeters. |
| 2. | a very small amount of anything; narrow margin: to win by an inch; to avert disaster by an inch. |
| 3. | to move by inches or small degrees: We inched our way along the road. |
| 4. | by inches,
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| 5. | every inch, in every respect; completely: That horse is every inch a thoroughbred. |
| 6. | within an inch of, nearly; close to: He came within an inch of getting killed in the crash. |
by inches
Also, inch by inch. Gradually, bit by bit, as in We found ourselves in rush hour traffic, moving by inches. Shakespeare used this term in Coriolanus (5:4): "They'll give him death by inches." Despite the increasing use of metric measurements, it survives, often as an exaggeration of the actual circumstance. The phrase to inch along, first recorded in 1812, means "to move bit by bit," as in There was a long line at the theater, just inching along.
