inch
/ɪnt͡ʃ/ noun, verb, adjective, proper noun
Forms inches in in. inching inched
- noun 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.”
- noun (figuratively) Any very short distance. “Don't move an inch!”
- noun 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.”
- noun (meteorology) A depth of one inch on the ground, used as a measurement of rainfall. “Expect around 2 inches of rain on Saturday afternoon.”
- noun 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 (intransitive, followed by a preposition) To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction). “Fearful of falling, he inched along the window ledge.”
- verb To drive by inches, or small degrees.
- verb To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.
- noun (Scotland, Ireland) A small island; an islet.
- noun (Scotland, Ireland) A meadow, pasture, field, or haugh.
- adjective (Hong Kong, colloquial) cocky and cheeky
- verb (Hong Kong, colloquial) to burn (to insult); to speak in a cocky and cheeky manner
- proper noun A town in County Wexford, Ireland.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English ynche, enche, from Old English ynċe, borrowed from Latin ū̆ncia (“Roman inch, various similar units”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *óynos (“one”). Doublet of ounce, uncia, onça, onza, oka, ouguiya, and awqiyyah.
From Scots inch, from Scottish Gaelic innis.
Semantic loan from Cantonese 寸 (cyun³, “inch”), which is an alternative form of 串 (cyun³, “cocky; to provoke; etc.”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun An island; --often used in the names of small islands off the coast of Scotland, as in Inchcolm, Inchkeith, etc. [Scot.]
- noun A measure of length, the twelfth part of a foot, commonly subdivided into halves, quarters, eights, sixteenths, etc., as among mechanics. It was also formerly divided into twelve parts, called lines, and originally into three parts, called barleycorns, its length supposed to have been determined from three grains of barley placed end to end lengthwise. It is also sometimes called a prime ('), composed of twelve seconds ('\'b7), as in the duodecimal system of arithmetic.
- noun A small distance or degree, whether or time Beldame, I think we watched you at an inch. Shak.
- verb To drive by inches, or small degrees. [R.]
Etymology [Gael. inis.]
Etymology [OE. inche, unche, AS. ynce, L. uncia the twelfth part, inch, ounce. See Ounce a weight.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “inch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details