inch
/ɪnt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.49 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of various similar units of length in other traditional systems of measurement.
noun
A depth of one inch on the ground, used as a measurement of rainfall.
Example Sentences
- "One rule of thumb is that the width of an adult thumb can approximate a length of one inch."
- "The sledges of the Esquimaux are of large size, varying from six and a half to nine and even eleven feet in length, and from eighteen inches to two feet in breadth."
- "The term "precision measurement" […] refers to the art of reproducing and controlling dimensions expressed in thousandths of an inch or smaller."
- "He describes the operation thus: "The heavy ram employed to impart the finishing strokes, hoisted up with double purchase and snail's pace to the summit of the Piling Engine, and then falling down like a thunderbolt on the head of the devoted timber, driving it perhaps a single half inch in to the stratum below, is well calculated to put to the test the virtue of patience, while it illustrates the old adage of—slow and sure.""
- "Kate Merrill: Do you ever regret it, Liz? Liz Frances: The divorce? Not as much as I regret the marriage. I miss about eight inches of Larry. I'm not referring to the diameter of his brain."
- "Youth worker Rob, 25, is 5’ 3” tall but measures 6’ 6” around his girth – just an inch less than the height of England’s beanpole striker Peter Crouch."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ynche, ynċe, ū̆ncia, *óynos, inch, innis
Usage
Inflected Forms
inches (plural)
in (abbreviation)
in. (abbreviation)
″ (abbreviation)
inches (present, singular)
inching (participle, present)
inched (participle, past)
inched (past)