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inches

[inch]

Origin

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noun

a unit of length, ¹/₁₂ foot, equivalent to 2.54 centimeters.

a very small amount of anything; narrow margin: to win by an inch; to avert disaster by an inch.

verb (used with object), verb (used without object)

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

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Inches is always a great word to know.

So is doohickey. Does it mean:

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.

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Idioms

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.

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

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

Origin:
before 1000; Middle English; Old English ynce < Latin uncia twelfth part, inch, ounce. See ounce¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun Scot.

a small island near the seacoast.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English < Scots Gaelic innse, genitive of innis island, Old Irish inis, cognate with Welsh ynys

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To inches

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

inch

"small Scottish island," early 15c., from Gael. innis (gen. innse) "island, land by a river."

American Heritage

Science Dictionary

inch (ĭnch) Pronunciation Key
A unit of length in the US Customary System equal to ¹/₁₂ of a foot (2.54 centimeters). See Table at measurement.

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"A very simple and useful device is to have a memorandum-book, so small that it can be easily carried in the pocket, to be used instead of your mind to keep note of any errand or any appointment that you may have. The Standard Diary, less than four inches long and less than two and a half inches wide, is one of the best for this purpose. ...In fact, such diaries as these, in their wide range of information, would seem to be all that one needs in practical life, the only other book that at all approaches them in this respect being unquestionably Webster's Unabridged Dictionary."

-Anna C. Brackett

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