by inches
11
4.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
poco a poco
- Step by step, inch by inch, they pressed me closer and closer.
- missed by inches
- dying by inches
- progressed by inches
It is lonely because it is a game of just moving the ball down the field inch by inch by inch.
- It is lonely because it is a game of just moving the ball down the field inch by inch by inch.
- They just make brief patterns in it, inch by inch, implacable as a glacier and far colder.
- And step by step, inch by inch, the leader then becomes more and more in control of the people.
- You know, we how do we build it just inch by inch and and that's a great thing because it's not something only some people can have.
Examples
-
So I like to take people inch by inch or even half an inch because we become happy when we get better.
-
As I lowered myself inch by inch, I tested each step before I gave it my weight.
Fiction book (1990) -
As it is, that bullet only missed me by inches.
-
And step by step, inch by inch, the leader then becomes more and more in control of the people.
-
Each one was pulled out of him, detail by detail, inch by inch.
Fiction book (2001) -
Every day we make them, and they lead us steadily, inch by inch, toward our destiny.
Blog text (14) -
Then, with deliberate care, he began scanning the grid, inch by inch, from left to right and back again.
Fiction book (1991) -
That's the path they inherit... and if they try to change it at all, they have to do it by inches.
-
Cautiously, he lifted the canvas back inch by inch as if afraid of a sudden movement.
Fiction book (1996) -
The climber ascended the mountain by inches, carefully placing one foot in front of the other.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To a small degree or amount
885
1.0
A little, not very much
7
3.7
Move forward slowly in very small steps
4
8.6
By a very small amount that is almost zero
3
4.6
By a very small amount
Antonyms
How Slow
Surface Forms
Morphology
by + inch
The meaning 'in small amounts or by slight degrees' is directly derivable from 'by' as a marker of unit/measure and 'inches' as very small units of length, so a learner who knows both words can infer gradual, incremental progress. This is a regular measurement-based metaphor (small physical units → small amounts) common across languages and standard in English, making it immediately comprehensible to B1 learners.
Etymology
By inches comes from the image of moving something only a few inches at a time, like a boat moving slowly through a narrow canal. That's why it means 'in small amounts' or 'little by little'.