What does "inchmeal" mean?

Gradually, little by little (an inch at a time).

What is a synonym for "inchmeal"?

Common synonyms include: bit by bit, by degrees, by inches, by inchmeal, by slow degrees, by snatches.

Pronounced //ˈɪnt͡ʃ.miːl//.

//ˈɪnt͡ʃ.miːl// adv

adv ·Rare ·Advanced level

Adverb

1
Gradually, little by little (an inch at a time). idiomatic, not-comparable
"All the infections that the sun sucks up / From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall, and make him / By inch-meal a disease!"

"All the infections that the sun sucks up / From bogs, fens, flats, on Prosper fall, and make him / By inch-meal a disease!"

From inch + -meal.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.