Word.ws English Dictionary

in for an inch, in for a mile

in for an inch, in for a mile proverb: given that one is partly involved in or committed to a project, action, position, etc., there is no reason to refrain from becoming fully involved or fully committed.

Proverb

in for an inch, in for a mile

  1. (US) Given that one is partly involved in or committed to a project, action, position, etc., there is no reason to refrain from becoming fully involved or fully committed.
    • Afterwards, she took him farther south. His uneasiness grew with every step. . . . "In for an inch, in for a mile," he muttered.2005, Bill Burt, William D. Burt, The Downs, →ISBN, page 29
    • I soon found the water lapping at my toes so I figured, “in for an inch, in for a mile” and continued on in after the oystercatcher.2007 December 31, Maggie Petsch, “American oystercatcher shots are memorable”, in Daily News, Galveston, Texas, retrieved 16 Jul 2009

Synonyms of in for an inch, in for a mile

Questions about in for an inch, in for a mile

What does in for an inch, in for a mile mean?
In for an inch, in for a mile means given that one is partly involved in or committed to a project, action, position, etc., there is no reason to refrain from becoming fully involved or fully committed.
What part of speech is in for an inch, in for a mile?
In for an inch, in for a mile is a proverb.

Words near in for an inch, in for a mile in the dictionary

  1. in focus
  2. in for
  3. in for a dime, in for a dollar
  4. in for a penny
  5. in for a penny, in for a pound
  6. in for an inch, in for a mile
  7. in for it
  8. in for the kill
  9. in force
  10. in form
  11. in forma pauperis

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: in for an inch, in for a mile (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-au-in for an inch, in for a mile.ogg.

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