inch

noun

1. 1

   An English unit of length equal to 1/12 of a foot or 2.54 cm.

   The sledges of the Esquimaux are of large size, varying from six and a half to nine and even eleven feet in length, and from eighteen inches to two feet in breadth.

   The term "precision measurement" […] refers to the art of reproducing and controlling dimensions expressed in thousandths of an inch or smaller.

   Kate Merrill: Do you ever regret it, Liz? Liz Frances: The divorce? Not as much as I regret the marriage. I miss about eight inches of Larry. I'm not referring to the diameter of his brain.

   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. 2

   figurativeAny very short distance.

   Don't move an inch!

   Beldame, I think we watched you at an inch.

   [B]e the consequences what they may, they shall not move an inch, nor a hair's-breadth from the ground of their groundless spiritual independence, […]

3. 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. 4

   A depth of one inch on the ground, used as a measurement of rainfall.

   Let us consider what one inch of rain really means. If an acre of land were covered with water to the depth of only the tenth part of an inch, that layer of water would weigh more than 10 tons: thus 1 inch of rain is ten times that amount—in fact, very nearly 101 tons.

   Expect around 2 inches of rain on Saturday afternoon.

5. 5

   A depth of one inch in a glass, used as a rough measurement of alcoholic beverages.

   My partner only drinks about a 1 inch pour with dinner, leaving the rest of the bottle for me.

verb

1. 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.

   The window blind had been lowered — Zooey had done all his bathtub reading by the light from the three-bulb overhead fixture—but a fraction of morning light inched under the blind and onto the title page of the manuscript.

   Already guarding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Blackpool inched further ahead when Stephen Dobbie scored from an acute angle on the stroke of half-time. The game appeared to be completely beyond Birmingham’s reach three minutes into the second period when Matt Phillips reacted quickly to bundle the ball past Colin Doyle and off a post.

2. 2

   To drive by inches, or small degrees.

   He gets too far into the soldier's grace / And inches out my master.

3. 3

   To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.

noun

1. 1

   A small island; an islet.

   The blackening wave is edged with white; / To inch and rock the sea-mews fly.

2. 2

   A meadow, pasture, field, or haugh.

   An ivy-clad farmhouse surrounded by trees, it stood on the sunny side of a sloping hill at the foot of which the Darigle river curved its way through gold-furzed inches to disappear under a stone bridge into the woods beyond.

   As these calves grew older they did not need to return to the farmyard for feeding as they were able to eat sufficient grass for themselves. They were then kept in the fields, known as the inches, along by the river[,] where they grew strong[,] and during the winter cold when grass was scarce[,] hay was carried down to them.

adjective

1. 1

   cocky and cheeky

   I still remember Donald Duck sit next to him after NG dog being 'Done'd to F.2 building... he is still very Inch in Year 1983-4 teaching me RS

   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!!

verb

1. 1

   to burn (to insult); to speak in a cocky and cheeky manner

   Sorry for changing the intention of the post last time; it was for nothing but the personal joy and satisfaction of "inch"-ing the person who criticized my writing while he/she can't even write. (no hard feelings, alright?!) I'd avoid that in the future. I'll try to make this a constructive discussion and be as objective as possible.

Forms

plural

inches

past tense

inched

past participle

inched

present participle

inching

third person singular

inches