Inch vs Prey - What's the difference?
inch | prey |
A unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot, or exactly 2.54 centimetres.
(meteorology) The amount of water which would cover a surface to the depth of an inch, used as a measurement of rainfall.
The amount of an alcoholic beverage which would fill a glass or bottle to the depth of an inch.
(figuratively) A very short distance.
* Shakespeare
(followed by a preposition) To advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction).
* 1957 , :
*:The window blind had been lowered — Zooey had done all his bathtub reading by the light from the three-bulb overhead fixture—but a fraction of morning light inched under the blind and onto the title page of the manuscript.
* {{quote-news
, year=2012
, date=May 9
, author=John Percy
, title=Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report
, work=the Telegraph
To drive by inches, or small degrees.
* Dryden
To deal out by inches; to give sparingly.
(Scotland) A small island
* Sir Walter Scott, Rosabelle
(archaic) Anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.
* Bible, Numbers xxxi. 12
That which is or may be seized by animals or birds to be devoured; hence, a person given up as a victim.
* Dryden
* Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness
A living thing that is eaten by another living thing.
* Bible, Job iv. ii
* {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author=
, title= The act of devouring other creatures; ravage.
* Shakespeare
The victim of a disease.
As nouns the difference between inch and prey
is that inch is a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot, or exactly 2.54 centimetres while prey is anything, as goods, etc., taken or got by violence; anything taken by force from an enemy in war; spoil; booty; plunder.As a verb inch
is to advance very slowly, or by a small amount (in a particular direction).inch
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) (ang) ynce, from (etyl) . Compare ounce.Noun
(es)- "Don't move an inch !"
- Beldame, I think we watched you at an inch .
Derived terms
* every inch * * inch-perfectVerb
(es)- Fearful of falling, he inched along the window ledge.
citation, page= , passage=Already guarding a 1-0 lead from the first leg, Blackpool inched further ahead when Stephen Dobbie scored from an acute angle on the stroke of half-time. The game appeared to be completely beyond Birmingham’s reach three minutes into the second period when Matt Phillips reacted quickly to bundle the ball past Colin Doyle and off a post.}}
- He gets too far into the soldier's grace / And inches out my master.
Derived terms
* inch along * inch forward * inch up * inchwormSee also
* thou * milEtymology 2
From Gaelic (innis)Noun
(es)- The blackening wave is edged with white; / To inch and rock the sea-mews fly.
Usage notes
* Found especially in the names of small Scottish islands, e.g. (Inchcolm), (Inchkeith).Anagrams
* English intransitive verbsprey
English
Noun
- And they brought the captives, and the prey , and the spoil, unto Moses, and Eleazar the priest.
- Already sees herself the monster's prey .
- [The helmsman] steered with no end of a swagger while you were by; but if he lost sight of you, he became instantly the prey of an abject funk
- The old lion perisheth for lack of prey .
William E. Conner
An Acoustic Arms Race, volume=101, issue=3, page=206-7, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Nonetheless, some insect prey take advantage of clutter by hiding in it. Earless ghost swift moths become “invisible” to echolocating bats by forming mating clusters close (less than half a meter) above vegetation and effectively blending into the clutter of echoes that the bat receives from the leaves and stems around them.}}
- Hog in sloth, fox in stealth, lion in prey .