inch

1
[ inch ]
See synonyms for inch on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a unit of length, 1/12 (0.0833) foot, equivalent to 2.54 centimeters. Abbreviation: in.

  2. 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)
  1. to move by inches or small degrees: We inched our way along the road.

Idioms about inch

  1. by inches,

    • narrowly; by a narrow margin: escaped by inches.

    • Also inch by inch. by small degrees or stages; gradually: The miners worked their way through the narrow shaft inch by inch.

  2. every inch, in every respect; completely: That horse is every inch a thoroughbred.

  1. within an inch of, nearly; close to: He came within an inch of getting killed in the crash.

Origin of inch

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English inch(e), unch(e), enche, Old English ynce, from Latin uncia “twelfth part, inch, ounce”; see origin at ounce1

Other definitions for inch (2 of 2)

inch2
[ inch ]

nounScot.
  1. a small island near the seacoast.

Origin of inch

2
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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use inch in a sentence

  • In cross-section the burrows varied from round (three inches in diameter) to oval (three inches high and four inches wide).

  • Sir Cadge was about the same age as the famous beauty, and rose quite two inches above her lofty head.

    Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
  • If the paper is about twelve by eighteen inches this will accommodate moderate examples of most of the fronds.

    How to Know the Ferns | S. Leonard Bastin
  • Her tall figure—she was taller than he by at least three inches—was beautiful in its commanding, yet not vulgar, self-possession.

    Bella Donna | Robert Hichens
  • Old feuds were settled in the old way and six inches of steel were more potent than the longest Order in Council.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy

British Dictionary definitions for inch (1 of 2)

inch1

/ (ɪntʃ) /


noun
  1. a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot or 0.0254 metre

  2. meteorol

    • an amount of precipitation that would cover a surface with water one inch deep: five inches of rain fell in January

    • a unit of pressure equal to a mercury column one inch high in a barometer

  1. a very small distance, degree, or amount

  2. every inch in every way; completely: he was every inch an aristocrat

  3. inch by inch gradually; little by little

  4. within an inch of very close to

verb
  1. to move or be moved very slowly or in very small steps: the car inched forward

  2. (tr foll by out) to defeat (someone) by a very small margin

Origin of inch

1
Old English ynce, from Latin uncia twelfth part; see ounce 1

British Dictionary definitions for inch (2 of 2)

inch2

/ (ɪntʃ) /


noun
  1. Scot and Irish a small island

Origin of inch

2
C15: from Gaelic innis island; compare Welsh ynys

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for inch

inch

[ ĭnch ]


  1. A unit of length in the US Customary System equal to 112 of a foot (2.54 centimeters). See Table at measurement.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Other Idioms and Phrases with inch

inch

In addition to the idioms beginning with inch

  • inch along
  • inch by inch

also see:

  • by inches
  • every inch
  • give an inch
  • within an ace (inch) of

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.