Inch

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Inch, n. [Gael. inis.].

 An island; -- often used in the names of small islands off the coast of Scotland, as in Inchcolm, Inchkeith, etc.  [1913 Webster]

Inch, n. [OE. inche, unche, AS. ynce, L. uncia the twelfth part, inch, ounce. See Ounce a weight.].

•  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 (′′), as in the duodecimal system of arithmetic.  [1913 Webster]

  " The meter, the accepted scientific standard of length, equals 39.37 inches; the inch is equal to 2.54 centimeters. See Metric system, and Meter."  [1913 Webster]

  "12 seconds (′′) make 1 inch or prime. 12 inches or primes (′) make 1 foot."  [1913 Webster]
•  A small distance or degree, whether of time or space; hence, a critical moment; also used metaphorically of minor concessins in bargaining; as, he won't give an inch; give him an inch and he'll take a mile.  [1913 Webster]

  "Beldame, I think we watched you at an inch."  [1913 Webster]

By inches, by slow degrees, gradually. -- Inch of candle. See under Candle. -- Inches of pressure, usually, the pressure indicated by so many inches of a mercury column, as on a steam gauge. -- Inch of water. See under Water. -- Miner's inch, (Hydraulic Mining), a unit for the measurement of water. See Inch of water, under Water.

Inch, v. t. 

•  To drive by inches, or small degrees.  [1913 Webster]

  "He gets too far into the soldier's grace
  And inches out my master."  [1913 Webster]
•  To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.  [1913 Webster]

Inch, v. i. 

 To advance or retire by inches or small degrees; to move slowly; as, to inch forward.  [1913 Webster]
"With slow paces measures back the field,
And inches to the walls."  [1913 Webster]

Inch, a. 

 Measuring an inch in any dimension, whether length, breadth, or thickness; -- used in composition; as, a two-inch cable; a four-inch plank.  [1913 Webster]

Inch stuff, boards, etc., sawed one inch thick.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Inch, n. & v.
--n.
1 a unit of linear measure equal to one-twelfth of a foot (2.54 cm).
2 a (as a unit of rainfall) a quantity that would cover a horizontal surface to a depth of 1 inch. b (of atmospheric or other pressure) an amount that balances the weight of a column of mercury 1 inch high.
3 (as a unit of map-scale) so many inches representing 1 mile on the ground (a 4-inch map).
4 a small amount (usu. with neg.: would not yield an inch).
--v.tr. & intr. move gradually in a specified way (inched forward).

Idiom

every inch
1 entirely (looked every inch a queen).
2 the whole distance or area (combed every inch of the garden). give a person an inch and he or she will take a mile (or orig. an ell) a person once conceded to will demand much. inch by inch gradually; bit by bit. within an inch of almost to the point of.

Inch, n. esp. Sc. a small island (esp. in place-names).

Etymology

ME f. Gael. innis

THESAURUS

Inch

ace, amble, bit, bowshot, brief span, claudicate, close quarters, close range, crack, crawl, creep, crowd, dogtrot, drag, drag along, drag out, drive on, earreach, earshot, forge ahead, go dead slow, go on tiptoe, go slow, grovel, gumshoe, gunshot, hair, hair space, hairbreadth, hairsbreadth, hobble, idle, inch along, inch forward, jog-trot, laze, limp, little, little ways, mosey, muddle through, nightwalk, pad, pistol shot, poke, poke along, press forward, press on, prowl, push, push forward, push on, pussyfoot, saunter, scrabble, scramble, short distance, short piece, short way, shuffle along, sidle, slink, snake, sneak, span, spitting distance, stagger along, steal, steal along, step, stroll, tippytoe, tiptoe, toddle, toddle along, totter along, traipse, waddle, walk, worm, worm along

ROGET THESAURUS

Inch

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Length

N length, longitude, span, mileage, distance, line, bar, rule, stripe, streak, spoke, radius, lengthening, prolongation, production, protraction, tension, tensure, extension, line, nail, inch, hand, palm, foot, cubit, yard, ell, fathom, rood, pole, furlong, mile, league, chain, link, arpent, handbreadth, jornada, kos, vara, astronomical unit, AU, light- year, parsec, nanometer, nm, micron, micrometer, millimicron, millimeter, mm, centimeter, cm, meter, kilometer, km, pedometer, perambulator, scale, long, longsome, lengthy, wiredrawn, outstretched, lengthened, sesquipedalian, interminable, no end of, macrocolous, linear, lineal, longitudinal, oblong, as long as my arm, as long as today and tomorrow, unshortened &c (shorten), lengthwise, at length, longitudinally, endlong, along, tandem, in a line, in perspective, from end to end, from stem to stern, from head to foot, from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, from top to toe, fore and aft.