column inch

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noun Printing.

type one column wide and 1 inch (2.54 centimeters) deep.

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Origin of column inch

First recorded in 1935–40

Words nearby column inch

columnarized, columnar jointing, column dress, columnea, columniation, column inch, columnist, column vector, colure, Colwyn Bay, coly

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use column inch in a sentence

Sometimes a column has the economy and rhythm of a short story.
The Best Columns of 2014|John Avlon, Errol Louis|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Neil Patrick Harris, Hedwig and the Angry Inch Neil Patrick Harris in fishnets, high heels, and glitter could be a great gag.
Hedwig, Hugh & Michael Cera: 12 Powerhouse Theater Performances of 2014|Janice Kaplan|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Later that night, that same black-and-red banner would be seen again—in the column of marchers chanting for dead cops.
The Monsters Who Screamed for Dead Cops|Jacob Siegel|December 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He branded it a fifth-column invasion into popular culture, normalizing radical, even communist ambitions.
Glenn Beck Is Now Selling Hipster Clothes. Really.|Ana Marie Cox|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

My editor called and said, “Do a column on this Lena Dunham flap!”
Up to a Point: They Made Me Write About Lena Dunham|P. J. O’Rourke|December 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
My two eyes haven't quite the same focal length and this often puts me out of the straight with a column of figures.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reisz struck upon the piano sent a keen tremor down Mrs. Pontellier's spinal column.
The Awakening and Selected Short Stories|Kate Chopin
Clodd tells us that one cubic inch of rotten stone contains 41 thousand million vegetable skeletons of diatoms.
God and my Neighbour|Robert Blatchford
He leaned against that same stone column, thinking, searching in his mind, feeling acutely.
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
Track of the count may be kept by placing a mark for each leukocyte in its appropriate column, ruled upon paper.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd

British Dictionary definitions for column inch

column inch

noun

a unit of measurement for advertising space, one inch deep and one column wide

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012