inch
To advance very slowly, or by a small amountTo advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction).
» My son grew 5 inches last year.
Mein Sohn ist im letzten Jahr 13 Zentimeter gewachsen.
Минулого року мій син виріс на п'ять дюймів.
Минулого року мій син виріс на тринадцять сантиметрів.
Meaning
4 senses(intransitive)To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction).
Fearful of falling, he inched along the window ledge.
sich zentimeterweise fortbewegen
advance slowly, as if by inches
To drive by inches, or small degrees.
To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.
(Hong Kong, colloquial)To burn (to insult); to speak in a cocky and cheeky manner
Examples
254 sentencesMy son grew 5 inches last year.
Минулого року мій син виріс на п'ять дюймів. — deniko
deMein Sohn ist im letzten Jahr 13 Zentimeter gewachsen. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
How many inches did you grow last year?
На скільки дюймів ти виріс минулого року? — deniko
Give him an inch and he'll take a mile.
Свиню пусти під стіл, а вона лізе на стіл. — Ahha
ruДай ему палец - он всю руку откусит. — marafon
deWenn man ihm den kleinen Finger gibt, so nimmt er die ganze Hand. — MUIRIEL
Give Tom an inch and he'll take a mile.
Дай Тому палець – він і руку відкусить. — deniko
ruДай Тому палец - он и руку откусит. — marafon
deWenn man Tom den kleinen Finger gibt, nimmt er die ganze Hand. — Pfirsichbaeumchen
I'm half an inch taller than Tom.
Я на сантиметр вищий від Тома. — deniko
deIch bin einen Zentimeter größer als Tom. — kolonjano
Translations
2 languagesBy meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English ynche, enche, from Old English ynċe, borrowed from Latin ū̆ncia (“RomaFrom 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.
Semantic loan from Cantonese 寸 (cyun³, “inch”), which is an alternative form of 串 (cyun³, “cocky; to provoke; etc.”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
inches, inching, inched, inchedPhrasal verbs
5 phrasal verbs- inch upTo move or increase by small increments, typically slowly and carefully.
- inch backTo move something backward by a very small amount, often in a slow and gradual way.
- inch awayTo begin to change one's position on a topic; to subtly distance oneself from previous associates, ideas, etc.
- inch alongTo move slowly or to make progress gradually, bit by bit.
- inch forwardTo move forward in a very slow, cautious, and careful way.
Synonyms
1 synonyms- advance slowly, as if by inches:edge
Word family
8 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
Collocations
12 patterns- inches taller than
- inches shorter than
- a few inches
- few inches shorter
- inches taller
- three inches taller
- an an inch
- few inches
- inches shorter
- three inches
- few inches taller
- every inch of