inch
//ɪnt͡ʃ//
Forms
- Plural
- inches
- present (v1)
- inch
- past (v2)
- inched
- past participle (v3)
- inched
- present participle
- inching
- 3rd person singular
- inches
Definitions
1.An English unit of length equal to 1/12 of a foot or 2.54 cm.
- One rule of thumb is that the width of an adult thumb can approximate a length of one inch.
- The term "precision measurement" […] refers to the art of reproducing and controlling dimensions expressed in thousandths of an inch or smaller.
- Youth worker Rob, 25, is 5’ 3” tall but measures 6’ 6” around his girth – just an inch less than the height of England’s beanpole striker Peter Crouch.
2.Any very short distance.
- Beldame, I think we watched you at an inch.
3.Any of various similar units of length in other traditional systems of measurement.
- At the time of Augustus, the Roman inch was standardized at a length about 3% shorter than the modern English one.
4.A depth of one inch on the ground, used as a measurement of rainfall.
- Expect around 2 inches of rain on Saturday afternoon.
1.To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction).
- Fearful of falling, he inched along the window ledge.
- On reaching the section under construction they must be capable of inching the train forward on rough track up gradients as steep as 1 in 30.
2.To drive by inches, or small degrees.
- He gets too far into the soldier's grace / And inches out my master.
3.To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.
1.cocky and cheeky(colloquial)
- The service was professional but very "inch". We were served by a Cantonese speaking local. The waiter asked if we wanted water without telling us it costs $75 for just water!!
Frequency
Overall
Common· #1752
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Common
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Etymology
From Middle English ynche, enche, from Old English ynċe, borrowed from Latin uncia (“Roman inch, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”).
Doublet of ounce, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.