every inch
7
4.2
- idiom
- Informal
:
cada centímetro
- My men are working triple shifts combing every inch of the city for this madman.
- looked every inch
- fight for every inch
- every inch of her body
Examples
-
I want every inch of this city searched.
-
He fought for every inch he ever got.
-
I know every inch of him.
-
I checked every inch of the car.
-
I'm going to search every inch of this room.
-
I searched every inch of this house when I first bought the place.
-
"I think you will find that Clay is every inch a professional.
Fiction book (1996) -
"I used to know every inch of that lake," Rick told me.
Blog text (12) -
She looks every inch a Lady.
-
The detective examined every inch of the crime scene for evidence.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Totally, in every way
∞
1.8
Completely from the start to the finish
∞
1.0
Completely, with nothing left out
84
3.4
Completely in every way
45
2.0
All of something, including very small parts
21
3.2
To do something completely by checking every part
7
4.1
Every small or hidden part of a place where things can hide
Antonyms
How Complete
Surface Forms
Morphology
every + inch
The literal combination 'every' + 'inch' denotes all tiny units of measure, which plausibly extends to the sense of totality or completeness, so a learner who knows the words can often infer a meaning like 'completely' or 'throughout'. However, this is a metaphorical extension from physical measurement to abstract extent (e.g., 'every inch of the way'), so the specific adverbial/idiomatic use may not be fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
Every inch comes from the idea of measuring something carefully and looking at each small part, because an inch is a tiny unit of length, so to check 'every inch' is to look at everything. That's why every inch means 'completely' or 'in every way'.