by inches

Idioms  

1. Also, inch by inch. Gradually, bit by bit, as in We found ourselves in rush hour traffic, moving by inches. Shakespeare used this term in Coriolanus (5:4): “They'll give him death by inches.” Despite the increasing use of metric measurements, it survives, often as an exaggeration of the actual circumstance. The phrase to inch along, first recorded in 1812, means “to move bit by bit,” as in There was a long line at the theater, just inching along.

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Example Sentences

As recently as February, a boulder came crashing down the hillside, missing his home by inches.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 16, 2025

Mullins led off with a bunt single when the ball rolled dead on the dirt about halfway to third base, fair by inches.

From Washington Times • Sep. 14, 2023

The first lesson Freeman offers the modern reader is not to rush past the point of no return — to move by inches, rather than leaps, when the stakes are high.

From Washington Post • Feb. 14, 2023

Antonio cleared Liam Cooper's header off the line, before failing by inches at the other end to turn Manuel Lanzini's injury-time cross in at the far post.

From BBC • Jan. 4, 2023

Once I wrote, “If my years are measured by inches, then I am certainly too young. The eleven-year-old daughter of an acquaintance dwarfs me.”

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine