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Glite Dictionary
to inch back

to inch back

1 4.9
To move slowly and carefully backward in very small steps
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɪnʧ bæk/
translation icon : retroceder lentamente
  • Then she paused and inched back to where Stuart was still standing.

Examples

  • As they talk, Tecumseh keeps inching a little closer to Harrison, who keeps inching back.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • As the shadow approached, I decided to inch back slowly to avoid detection.

  • "She inched back to the scene."

    Fiction book (1992)

  • You'd get close to him and he'd inch back that much further, you know.

    A Mighty Wind (2003)

  • "He inched back into the cover of the trees: Daine, Fleetfoot, and Short Snout.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • She shivered, dug in her heels, and tried to scoot an inch back out of the reach of his long fingers.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • "He sat down on the sidewalk and inched back against the building, pushing his large shoulders into the bricks like he wanted to knock the building over.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • "Well," he said, inching back, "I was going to say, if you've got the time, and if you're interested, we'll be shooting crowd scenes for the next two days, and we need extras."

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Becky inched back as far as she could, but the van driver stuck his head out the window, beeped his horn, and waved a hand at her.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Feeling uneasy, she began to inch back from the edge of the cliff.

Synonyms

to back
vsto inch back
475 1.0

To move in the direction behind you

moves slowly in very small cautious steps toward the rear

Antonyms

to charge
128 3.6

Move forward quickly, often to attack

to rush along
1 2.7

To move quickly in one direction

How Fast

to flee
331 2.4
to retreat
235 4.0
to inch back
1 4.9
to back away
59 3.9
to step back
101 3.6

Surface Forms

inch back infinitive
inched back past
inched back past participle
inching back present participle
inches back third person singular

Morphology

inch + back

The meaning 'to move slowly and cautiously backwards' is directly and compositionally derived from 'inch' (to advance in tiny increments) combined with 'back' (toward the rear). This verb + directional pattern is a regular, cross-linguistically common motion construction, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Inch back comes from the tiny measure inch and the picture of moving back only a little at a time, like stepping backward one small inch after another. So it means 'to move slowly and cautiously backwards'.