to inch along
- phrasal verb
- /ɪnʧ əˈlɔŋ/
- During the hike, the group decided to inch along the steep trail to avoid slipping.
- inched along the road
- inched along the street
- inched along the highway
Examples
-
Traffic inched along the streets to the parkway.
Fiction book (1997) -
The taxicab inched along the street.
Fiction book (2002) -
"Let's stay down and inch along this trail awhile," he whispered.
Fiction book (1999) -
Leah inched along the wall to Shy's cot.
Fiction book (1993) -
She shuddered but started inching along the beams, trying to ignore the splintering planks, the gaping holes between, and the ominous creaking with each step.
Fiction book (2002) -
As the earthquake shook the building, we had to inch along the narrow ledge to find safety.
-
The turtle inched along the path, taking its time to explore the surroundings.
Synonyms
Move slowly in one direction by small amounts
To move slowly and carefully in a particular direction
To go up slowly in small amounts
To move forward very slowly by a short distance
Move slowly and carefully forward to get closer in a crowd
Antonyms
How Fast
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to move very slowly and carefully in small amounts' is directly compositional from 'inch' (advance gradually in tiny increments) plus 'along' (moving in a direction). This motion verb + directional element combination is a regular, cross-linguistically common pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Inch along comes from the image of moving forward by tiny amounts, as if you move one inch along a line at a time. That's why it means 'to move very slowly and carefully'.