inched

verb

Definition of inchednext
past tense of inch
1
as in encroached
to advance gradually beyond the usual or desirable limits every year the water inches further up the embankments, threatening to permanently engulf the island city

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in dragged
to move slowly the car inched carefully across the snow-covered causeway

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of inched Barely an hour from the famed Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap, deminers with South Korean, Swiss and American flags on their uniforms and helmets, recently inched through a minefield, clearing the land one painstaking step at a time. — ABC News, 18 Aug. 2026 Whether Kidman’s performance inched the price upward remains unclear. — Ara H. Merjian, ARTnews.com, 16 Aug. 2026 McAdoo also had an RBI single and Brett Bateman reached base three times as the Blue Jays inched closer to the final AL wild-card spot. — CBS News, 15 Aug. 2026 So while governing bodies and SafeSport inched toward reform, ProPublica and The Post found, the AAU did not. — Molly Hensley-Clancy, ProPublica, 13 Aug. 2026 Overnight, the ship inched through eight impossibly narrow locks, depositing us on Lake Ontario. — Hannah Agran, Midwest Living, 12 Aug. 2026 Also on Wednesday, oil prices initially eased but later inched up. — Elena Becatoros, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026 In stock markets abroad, indexes inched higher in Europe following a stronger finish in Asia. — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 14 July 2026 After-sun skin care orders rose 46%, and orders for split ACs rose 41%, while demand for outdoor misting systems inched up 24%. — Vidhi Choudhary, Fortune, 7 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for inched
  1. encroached
  2. dragged
  3. crawled
  4. crept
  5. shuffled
  6. poked
Verb
  • In what his dad (Ed Harris) calls the decline of humanity, the club is being encroached on by pickleballers clamoring for more courts.
    — Christine Ledbetter, Chicago Tribune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • But the somatosensory cortex, the touch cortex, has like encroached upon it.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of encroached
Verb
  • One of English football’s most historic names had been dragged to the brink under previous owner Dejphon Chansiri last season — into administration and almost beneath the surface.
    — Philip Buckingham, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2026
  • No, it’s being dragged by two large straps and rolling along on a quintet of wheels, stuffed with dirty laundry or maybe this week’s groceries.
    — Max Berlinger, Vogue, 13 Aug. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • Traffic crawled at a creep along Independence Boulevard in those days.
    — DJ Simmons, Charlotte Observer, 15 Aug. 2026
  • Seven hid under a kitchen chest freezer while five crawled on the wall next to the three-compartment sink.
    — David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • By halftime, baldness crept between the hashmarks, especially on Highmark Stadium’s south end (to the right if sitting behind the Bills bench).
    — Tim Graham, New York Times, 16 Aug. 2026
  • And into the abyss of checks and balances, entitlement crept in.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2026
Definition of crept
Verb
  • The Playoff remains parked at 12 teams, and some G6 conferences shuffled teams, now including North Dakota State and Sacramento State.
    — Jason Kirk, New York Times, 31 July 2026
  • Black voters were shuffled around Houston, with much of the previous 9th Congressional District becoming the new 18th District.
    — Rahul Mukherjee, NPR, 23 July 2026
Definition of shuffled
Verb
  • In the 2024 playoffs, Carrington poked Fever phenom Caitlin Clark in the eye.
    — Jackson Thompson OutKick, FOXNews.com, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Offering a clever twist, the warm cake is poked with the handle of a wooden spoon, creating space for a vanilla-pineapple pudding to sink deep into the crumb.
    — Erin Merhar, Southern Living, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of poked

Browse Nearby Words

inch by inch
inched
inches
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Cite this Entry

“Inched.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/inched. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on inched

Nglish: Translation of inched for Spanish Speakers

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