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
  • In one case, agents in Bowie, Maryland, smashed a father’s car window, dragged him out, and pinned him to the ground — while his 6-, 7-, and 8-year-old children watched from the back seat.
    — Arlene Marcus, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2026
  • As power outages in northwest Indiana dragged on for over a week, Alyssa Casalin said her 2-month-old boy grew increasingly restless.
    — Rebecca Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • To compile as comprehensive a list as possible, Szydlowski crawled Instagram and Reddit for photos of people wearing different types of smart glasses.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2026
  • As the whole team fought for their lives, Yerman, one of the only Marines with relatively minor wounds, crawled over to Capers.
    — Ethan Rocke, Charlotte Observer, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of crawled
Verb
  • Politics has crept into Florida classrooms under the DeSantis administration, and public school teachers are particularly vulnerable.
    — Jessica Meszaros, Miami Herald, 21 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of crept
Verb
  • The old football adage about teams making their biggest improvements between their first and second games might not apply in the NFL preseason, when personnel are constantly being shuffled in and out of the action.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Canden Arciniega shuffled on the hot granite terrace on a mid-August morning, counting the names on her list.
    — Sophia Solano, Washington Post, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of shuffled
Verb
  • Over the past few years, a steady increase has been reported of workers getting poked by needles in the trash.
    — Amethyst Martinez, USA Today, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Benson later had a pass poked out by Texans corner Tremon Smith.
    — Sam Warren, New York Times, 21 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 24 Aug. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of inched for Spanish Speakers

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