milemile /maɪl/ ●●● S1 W1 noun [countable] 
It’s forty miles from here to the Polish border. an area 50 miles wide and 150 miles long We walked about half a mile. He was driving at 70 miles per hour.2the mile a race that is a mile in length: the first man to run the mile in under four minutes3miles informal a very long distancemile from We were miles from home, and very tired.mile away You can’t go to Portsmouth, it’s miles away.for miles You can see for miles from here. They lived in a little cottage miles from anywhere (=a long way from the nearest town).4go the extra mile to try a little harder in order to achieve something, after you have already used a lot of effort: The president expressed his determination to go the extra mile for peace.5stick out/stand out a mile informal to be very easy to see or notice: It sticks out a mile that you’re new here.6can see/spot/tell something a mile off informal if you can see something a mile off, it is very easy to notice: You can tell a mile off that he likes you.7be miles away spoken to not be paying attention to anything that is happening around you: ‘Kate!’ ‘Sorry, I was miles away!’8miles older/better/too difficult etc British English informal very much older, better, too difficult etc SYN loads: The second film’s miles better.9by a mile informal by a very large amount: He was the best player on the pitch by a mile.10miles out British English informal a measurement, guess, or calculation that is miles out is completely wrong11join the mile high club informal to have sex in a plane → nautical mile, → run a mile at run1(38)
WORD ORIGINmile
Origin:
Old English mil, from Latin milia passum ‘thousands of paces’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Dane's father lives about a mile from here.
- Mark jogs as least five miles a day.
- The car gets about thirty miles to the gallon.
- Edgcote House, situated about 8 miles northwest of Brackley, was a somewhat larger house than Weston Hall.
- Eighteen miles is not far at all, she says.
- Huge jams built up behind the 74-year-old pensioner as he crawled for five miles along the inside lane of the dual-carriageway A1.
- Maybe you have to throw a coat over your nightie and pick them up from miles away in the car.
- Now his voice was coming over five thousand miles of air and five hundred years of diverse progress.
- The first goal he scored in the famous Burnley game was really something special, he lobs the goalie from miles out.
- The gas was piped over a quarter of a mile to the Hall and stables.
- The main obstacle was the steep Crooksbury Hill after 19 miles, with the Punchbowl being a descent.
Longman Language Activatora long distance
a long distance - use this especially in negatives and questions: · Have you driven far?· We won't be able to go much farther because of the snow.· Who do you think can jump the farthest?far from: · Cleveland isn't very far from here.· We were sitting too far from the stage to hear what the actors were saying.far above/below/behind etc: · I was now far behind the others and knew I couldn't catch up.
a very long distance from where you are: · The ship was so far away that we could hardly see it.far away from: · She wanted to get as far away from New York as possible.as far away as something: · Because of the snowstorm on the east coast, flights for Boston were sent as far away as Montreal.from far away: · Thousands of people had come from far away for a chance to see the Pope.
also a long ways American spoken a long distance: · You must be tired - you've come a long way.a long way from: · The farm is a long way from the highway.a long way away/a long way off (=a long way from where you are now or from the place you are talking about): · We could hear them shouting from a long way away.· From the map, it looked as if the lake was still a long way off.a long way ahead/below/behind etc: · It's a long way down - hold on tight.
British also quite a ways American spoken fairly far, used especially to warn someone that a distance is longer than they think: · Look at the map. It's a fair way to drive in one day.· The children will have to walk quite a way if we take them into the woods.
further than usual or further than you expected: · José accompanied us for some distance until we reached the highway.· Their house is actually quite a distance from the edge of town.
informal a very long way: · We hiked miles yesterday.miles away: · I don't see Jane much any more - she lives miles away.miles from: · The hotel is miles from the station - I'll come and get you.miles from anywhere (=a long way from the nearest town): · They live up in the mountains, miles from anywhere.miles and miles: · Around here you can walk miles and miles and never see anyone.
a very long way from somewhere, further than you expect to be, or further than someone else says you are: · The car was parked in the middle of the street, nowhere near the curb.· After eight hours climbing, we were still nowhere near the top of the mountain.
formal if you travel far afield , you travel a very long way from the place where you usually live: · With the car they could travel far afield each summer.as far afield as something: · His work took him as far afield as Moscow and Delhi.further/farther afield: · The next day we ventured farther afield and sailed out to one of the islands.
extremely obvious and impossible not to notice: unmistakable sight/sound/smell etc · The secretary of state said the measures are designed to send the regime a clear and unmistakable signal.· the unmistakable sounds of mariachi music
informal so obvious that it is impossible not to notice: · The reason she stopped smoking is perfectly obvious: she's pregnant.· a blindingly obvious mistake
if you say that a fact speaks for itself , you mean it shows that something is so obviously good or obviously bad that you do not need to tell people how good or bad it is: · The quality of our products speaks for itself.· The fact that so many parents refuse to send their children to the school speaks for itself.
formal facts, ideas etc that are self-evident are obvious and true, although some people may not accept them or know about them: · The facts in this case are self-evident and cannot be denied.· self-evident truthsit is self-evident that: · It is self-evident to most people that the government is under no obligation to finance the arts.
British informal you say it sticks or stands out a mile when you think that someone's character, feelings, or background are obvious: · I'm absolutely sure he's a retired army officer. It sticks out a mile.· You can see he's desperately jealous. It stands out a mile.
you say it sticks or stands out like a sore thumb when something looks very different from everything around it: · I'm not going to the party dressed like this - I'd stick out like a sore thumb.
you say that you only have to look at something, read something etc when you think something is so obvious that anybody will notice it: · You only have to look at Turner's later oil paintings to see what a genius he was.· You just have to look at family photos from that time to see that there was a lot of sadness and bitterness over my parents' divorce.
if you say that a fact or feeling is written all over someone's face you mean that you can see, just by looking at the expression on their face, that it is true: · You're in love with him. It's written all over your face.· When Joey opened the package and saw that it wasn't a fire engine, the disappointment was written all over his face.
you say you can't miss it when you are giving someone directions to a place that is very easy to find or notice: · Their house is on the left. It has a pink door. You can't miss it.
if something such as a solution to a problem is staring you in the face , it is very obvious - use this especially when someone does not notice or realize something even though it is very obvious: · The solution was staring me in the face.· The answer had been staring him in the face for months.
WORD SETSacre, nounacreage, nounavoirdupois, nounbaker's dozen, nounbalance, nounbarometer, nounbaseline, nounbasin, nounbaud rate, nounbearing, nounbecquerel, nounblack box, nounboiling point, nounbottle, nounbox, nouncalculator, nouncalibrate, verbcalibration, nouncc, centi-, prefixcentimetre, nouncircumference, nouncl, clock, verbcm, cu, cubic, adjectivecubit, nouncup, nouncupful, nouncwt, daylight saving time, noundeci-, prefixdecibel, noundecimalization, noundeflection, noundegree, noundensity, noundepth, noundimension, noundipstick, noundisplacement, noundoz., noundozen, numberelevation, nounfactor, nounfathom, nounfl oz, fluid ounce, nounfoot, nounft, g, gage, noungal, gallon, noungauge, noungauge, verbGB, Geiger counter, noungigabyte, noungill, noungirth, noungm, graduated, adjectivegraduation, noungrain, noungram, noungramme, noungrid, noungross, adjectivehandful, nounhectare, nounhertz, nounhigh, adjectivehundredweight, nounimpedance, nounimperial, adjectiveinch, nounindicator, nouninstrument, nounjoule, nounkarat, nounkg, kilo, nounkilo-, prefixkilogram, nounkilometre, nounkm, knot, nounl, latitude, nounlb, league, nounlength, nounlight year, nounliter, nounlitre, nounlow water mark, nounmax, nounmaximum, adjectivemean, adjectivemeasure, verbmeasure, nounmedian, nounmedium, adjectivemegaton, nounmelting point, nounmental age, nounmeter, nounmeter, verb-meter, suffixmetre, noun-metre, suffixmetric, adjectivemetrication, nounmetric ton, nounmg, MHz, microsecond, nounmile, nounmillennium, nounmilli-, prefixmillibar, nounmilligram, nounmillilitre, nounmillimetre, nounminus, adjectiveminute, nounml, mpg, mph, nano-, prefixnanosecond, nounnautical mile, nounounce, nounoverweight, adjectiveoz, pace, verbpart, nounpedometer, nounpint, nounplus, adjectivepoint, nounpound, nounpunnet, nounqt, quantify, verbquart, nounradioactive dating, nounradius, nounrain gauge, nounread, verbreading, nounrecord, verbreset, verbrev, nounrotation, nounrpm, rule, nounruler, nounscale, nounsea level, nounsea mile, nounseismograph, nounsensor, nounset square, nounsextant, nounsnowfall, nounsoundings, nounsq., subsonic, adjectivesundial, nountherm, nountimberline, nountog, nounton, nountonnage, nountonne, nountroy weight, noununit, nounvoltmeter, nounvolume, nounwatch, nounwatt, nounwattage, nounweighbridge, nounweight, nounwidth, nounwt., yard, nounyardage, nounyardstick, nounyd, zero, number
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY We walked about half a mile. He was driving at 70 miles per hour. You can see for miles from here. They lived in a little cottage miles from anywhere (=a long way from the nearest town).COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES Place the two posts 6 metres apart. Catherine was the most beautiful girl for miles around. Geneva is about 20 miles away. Some of the birds have come thousands of miles to winter here. Cook gently for a further 10 minutes. The car does about 50 miles per gallon. This old truck is good for another 100,000 miles. half a pound of butter It’s about half a mile down the road. She drank half a bottle of wine. half a million dollars You can’t just waltz in a half hour late. It’s about a half mile down the road. a half day excursion to the island He demanded a half share of the money. The bridge is 140 feet long. There’s a motel a mile or so down the road (=about a mile or possibly a little more). There are more than a dozen golf courses within a 15-mile radius of St Andrews. A coachload of supporters made the 700-mile round trip to South Devon. We must have walked ten miles today. I walked all the way to San Rafael. The river is more than fifty yards wide.
We walked about half a mile. He was driving at 70 miles per hour. You can see for miles from here. They lived in a little cottage miles from anywhere (=a long way from the nearest town). Place the two posts 6 metres apart. Catherine was the most beautiful girl for miles around. Geneva is about 20 miles away. Some of the birds have come thousands of miles to winter here. Cook gently for a further 10 minutes. The car does about 50 miles per gallon. This old truck is good for another 100,000 miles. half a pound of butter It’s about half a mile down the road. She drank half a bottle of wine. half a million dollars You can’t just waltz in a half hour late. It’s about a half mile down the road. a half day excursion to the island He demanded a half share of the money. (=used in speeds)· The speed limit is 65 miles an hour.
The bridge is 140 feet long. There’s a motel a mile or so down the road (=about a mile or possibly a little more). (=used for measuring speed) a speed limit of 40 miles per hour
a speed limit of 40 miles per hour There are more than a dozen golf courses within a 15-mile radius of St Andrews. A coachload of supporters made the 700-mile round trip to South Devon.· A 250-metre-long tunnel provides access to all parts of the development.
We must have walked ten miles today. I walked all the way to San Rafael.· He began the five-mile walk back to town.
The river is more than fifty yards wide.· The walkers struggled in 35-mile-an-hour winds.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· In this case, the move of premises meant that the employee had to travel an extra 40 miles each day.· And it diminishes the employees' desire to go the extra mile when supervisors need them to.· All this when her only motivation was to go the extra mile under all circumstances.· Rammi, walking an extra mile to show me a well, then carrying home my water on her head.· Every extra mile is charged at about 10 pence, and there is a 30 pence an hour waiting time.· This is a nationwide competition to find the postie who goes that extra mile to deliver mail.
· Under the terms of the agreement Trinidad and Tobago's maritime boundary was to be increased to 350 nautical miles.· This marks the site of one of the Admiralty's measured nautical miles.· One minute of latitude at the Equator was defined as a nautical mile.
· A square mile of orchards shows no sign of anyone picking anything.· Ducks were by the square mile, millions of them.· A huge, 150 square mile, national forest is now in the process of being planted in the East Midlands.· That was a piece of cake compared to finding a square mile without an ad.· A decision which would produce an all-Highland single-tier authority covering 10,000 square miles may seem contradictory to that objective.· He said the warlord's militia controlled less than a square mile of the city.· The Mojave and Sonoran deserts cover 40,000 square miles of remarkably diverse terrain.· They chose an area of twenty-four square miles in north Oxfordshire and spent a whole spring filming every aspect of life there.
NOUN· Robert Walker, the prosperous-looking president of Turf Paradise, can see his doom approaching from 20 miles east.· Sixty miles east of the capital is Terelj.· It is around 22 miles east of Cheltenham, 20 miles west of Oxford and 18 miles north of Swindon.· Lamphey Place, two miles east of Pembroke, was an important possession of the bishops of St Davids.· A body was found on Saturday in Okanagan lake 200 miles east of Vancouver.· The Constellation crashed on Auchinweet Farm, on the eastern edge of Tarbolton parish, about 5 miles east of the airport.
· In a short half mile we would leave the Lake shore, and make for home along the gravel of the road.· He directs us to a good campsite a half mile down the beach at the base of a fresh-water estuary.· Arriving late to find all moving stairways were out of order a panicky half mile sprint was needed to catch our plane.· A water pipe jutted from the sandy village main street another half mile to the east.· But a half mile down the road after some other diversion, I lose him.· The nearest distraction is probably the Concord Turnpike, a half mile north of the pond.
· Running low on fuel Fuchida headed directly back to the battle fleet, now 190 miles north of Oahu.· The nearest distraction is probably the Concord Turnpike, a half mile north of the pond.· Fifteen miles north of Cambridge is the splendid Romanesque cathedral at Ely.· They are centred approximately 30 miles north east of Anglesey.· The village of Weston in which Leapor would have lived for some time was six miles north of Brackley.· The tiny vessel Miami Vice broke down five miles north of the Liverpool Bar shortly after 11am yesterday.· It was found abandoned about half a mile north in Leaburn Street.
· The run used to be three miles but I added a quarter mile spur in order to use the time to best advantage.· Another refused to walk a quarter mile to school, insisting that daily transportation be provided.· It stretches for three and a quarter miles from Leven to the river Hull.· Cave walls painted with Aboriginal drawings, a gorge about a quarter mile deep, filled with only eucalyptus and birds.· We go off to another site, reached by a quarter mile trek along the main railway line.· A saguaro-studded slope a quarter mile away glows with a fuzzy light.· It's sited only about a quarter mile from the northern boundary fence.· We walked to the elevators through about a quarter mile of post-modernist interior decor, pretty well disguised as fake ecru adobe.
· Those living outside a 50 mile radius £ 10 per year.· The volunteers may go with chaperones anywhere they want within a 25-mile radius of the center.· With over 34,000 hotel beds within a 30 mile radius of Birmingham, the city can accommodate even the largest international events.· All life, plant and animal, within a mile radius of Ground Zero simply vanished.· Most of the firms concerned are small and lie within a 10 mile radius of the University.· The group also looked for John Deere equipment in a 20-mile radius.· Within a five mile radius there are several pubs and restaurants.· It has 13 heavy metal and 12 chemical factories all lumped together within a several mile radius.
· After the board meeting, they drove fifty miles south of Auckland to meet Forster for lunch.· Fifteen miles south of Garberville my eyes began to close and I pulled over and slept for half an hour.· Louth in Lincolnshire, 16 miles south of Grimsby, is a pleasant little country market town.· Edward Plantagenet was massing his forces at Bamborough, sixteen miles south of Berwick, not at Carlisle.· Three miles south the Imperial War Museum has an exciting collection of military and civil aircraft at Duxford airfield.· The nearest centre with camping, chip shops, pubs etc is St Just, five miles south down the B3306.
· Start/finish: Car park, just over half a mile west of Harbottle village.· It is around 22 miles east of Cheltenham, 20 miles west of Oxford and 18 miles north of Swindon.· By air Leeds-Bradford Airport is at Yeadon, seven miles west of Leeds.· Coleraine Division Rascahan Bridge, one mile west of Limavady - temporary diversion around bridge.· The accident happened half a mile west of the Melsonby crossroads last September.· Sited ten miles west of Oxford is the small market town of Witney.· South Cave is situated twelve miles west of Hull.
VERB· They learned that the fall-out from the Bikini explosion had covered 7,000 square miles.· Each covers about one mile and takes about 90 minutes.· The race, covering 28.5 miles, will start at Aberdeen and finish at Peterhead.· It would cover four square miles and be the second biggest in the country.· The Survey was under constant pressure to cover as many square miles of ground as possible every year.· A decision which would produce an all-Highland single-tier authority covering 10,000 square miles may seem contradictory to that objective.· The athletes, often fell-runners, who are out to win can cover the three miles in just over fifteen minutes.· I had to cover more than fifteen miles a day.
· Because Southern Californians drive nearly 100 million miles every day in their cars - carefree perhaps but not cost-free.· Unfortunately, we sailed straight into a terrible storm, which drove us many miles eastward.· A hundred Deutschmarks and they'd driven scarcely a mile.· They then drove fifteen miles before dumping him on the Buckinghamshire border.· I drove about half a mile through the back streets before I found what I was looking for.· I had driven 80 miles on the wettest day of the summer.· If he'd driven at 40 miles an hour he would have driven straight past.
· Toftingall, which lies a few miles south from the village of Watten, was one of the first Caithness lochs we fished.· The oasis lay 150 miles south of Benghazi and the enemy airfields strung out along the Gulf of Sirte.· Ahead lie 1700 miles of treacherous mountain roads and 21 passes.· Most of the firms concerned are small and lie within a 10 mile radius of the University.· The man had never seen it, although it lay only twenty miles to the north.· Haddo House and its 180 acres of gardens lies about 20 miles north of Aberdeen.
· I live only half a mile from the canal, and visit those parts of it nearby regularly.· I wanted a woman of my own, not some one who was married and lived a mile up the road.· You nomes in the Store didn't know about my people, and we lived a few miles away.· Many of my constituents live 50 miles from the nearest district general hospital.· They lived less than a mile from the Elizabeth River, and Taylor remembers hearing ships' whistles at night.· At sixteen they had her married to a cousin who lived about a mile away.· All these years then, or for some of them, Rufus had been living three or four miles from him.
· I'd rather run the mile than face Elizabeth in one of her tempers.· The road runs for another mile and then terminates, at the top of a hill.· Aragorn can run 135 miles in three days; he lives in full vigour for 210 years, dying on his birthday.· Some of the tunnels must have run for miles, winding in and out of the channels of water that threaded everywhere.· He now runs 30 miles a week.· He wondered what she'd do if she ever met a Chinaman or a black slave. Run a mile probably.· Owen Anderson kicks off by telling you the physical changes that occur when you run 26.2 miles.
· Of sand, surf and sea stretching for mile after mile after mile into the blue haze.· Endlessly, the weeks stretched out, like mile upon mile of ocean.· A convoy of cars stretching for miles was escorted by Merseyside Police outriders.· It stretched for miles in each direction, with not a soul to be seen.· An audience can only sit at the front of the stage and the hall stretches back for miles.· Silhouetted sticks of rotted snow barriers emphasise godforsaken desert stretching for endless miles.· The village itself stretches for about a mile southwards from the Driffield-Bridlington road.· Five miles away the Ceredigion heritage coast stretches for miles and miles.
· In this case, the move of premises meant that the employee had to travel an extra 40 miles each day.· About 350, 000 people travelled the two-thousand-mile trail from the settlements to the West Coast.· Why it had taken him all day to travel thirty odd miles was not explained.· Read in studio Bird watchers are travelling from miles around to view the latest addition to a clifftop nest.· At £93, each passenger is travelling about 37 miles for every £1.· They had travelled 2,000 miles only to be disappointed by cruel coincidence.· Passengers travelling 230 miles to Amsterdam fork out £136.· David arrived in London with Angie, having travelled more that 8,000 miles overland.
· He intends to push the record to over 9000 miles by walking another 2000 miles to complete the circuit.· I started walking a half- mile each night with my wife, Melba.· They walked for miles on the hilltops in the strong clean wind, alone with the birds and the sheep.· Another refused to walk a quarter mile to school, insisting that daily transportation be provided.· As she only had one lead rope, Perdita had to walk both ponies the mile and a half back to Robinsgrove.· He felt as if he had walked for miles and knew that he had certainly had too much to drink.· Others had walked a mile to a well and were carting back three large brass pots stacked on their heads.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► miles older/better/too difficult etc► join the mile high club► stick out/stand out a milePHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► do 10 miles/20 kms etc► give or take a few minutes/a penny/a mile etc► a good three miles/ten years etc► give somebody an inch and they’ll take a yard/mile► 3 metres/5 miles etc short of something► layer upon layer/mile upon mile etc
1 (written abbreviation m) a unit for measuring distance, equal to 1,760 yards or about 1,609 metres: - But I think he's lovely, and you can tell a mile off that he likes you.
- He's a hawkeye, and can spot one a mile off, like that faraway kestrel.
- Our sportsdesk can spot from a mile off a person who can not tell an in-swinger from a bouncer.
- I don't mean to disturb you, you looked miles away -- but there's a call for you.
- Sorry, I was miles away. What did you say?
- First, the man was miles away in London.
- For a moment there you seemed to be miles away.
- Given that the factory producing the chocolate is miles away, the resulting confections are really quite good.
- Her mind was miles away, focused on imaginary scenarios being played out between Piers and Nicole.
- I was miles away from the possibility of victory tonight.
- That was the image that occurred to me, but by the time I thought of it we were miles away.
- Their great protector was miles away, engrossed in Parcheesi.
- Whoever it was must be miles away by now.
- And yet Simeon flunked virtually every exam, often by a mile.
- At the rate he was going we were going to miss it by a mile.
- But the service is not yet good enough by a mile.
- I hope you pay heed, you're still my favourite tome by miles ... for now.
- It's the best by miles.
- Some writers have suggested that this will replace browsing, but they miss the point by a mile.
- They're the favourites by a mile.
- Whoever planted that tree beat Mr Buddy by a mile.
- Four miles out, turn left down a track.
- Once, when dusk caught us miles out in the country, an old couple took us in for the night.
- Spurn is a long thin peninsula, jutting three-and-a-half miles out from the North Humberside mainland.
- Terry and Ian Whelan were six miles out to sea off Southport's coast when they dropped the compass.
- The islands in the channel looked grim and deserted, twenty-six miles out.
- Three miles out from Scheffau is the beautiful Hintersteinersee lake, where you can swim, picnic or just enjoy the scenery.
- We lost the last of the press about thirty miles out of the city.
- We were five miles out of Sabinal in the cotton fields and grape vineyards.
- He's the world record holder in the mile.
- The campsite is miles from anywhere.
- The President vowed to go the extra mile for peace in the region.
- All this when her only motivation was to go the extra mile under all circumstances.
- And it diminishes the employees' desire to go the extra mile when supervisors need them to.
- And though injured himself he ran a mile over rough terrain to fetch help.
- Could you walk two miles in thirty minutes or run a mile in ten or twelve minutes?
- If anyone had told her then that one day she would join the royal family she would have run a mile.
- Luke Hunter would probably run a mile rather than meet her again.
- You could run a mile, but you're too disciplined and responsible for that.
- Beyond him, I could see the camp coming alive.
- Birds, like planes, usually face into the wind, so they do not see the plane coming.
- He looked up to see Norm coming down the driveway.
- One of the man-things had seen them coming and shouted a warning.
- Sarah Fleming saw them coming through the window of the front room.
- She saw him coming and intended to give him a wide berth.
- That Salvor Hardin had seen it coming made it none the more pleasant.
- We were heading for the landing zone and could even see a chopper coming toward us.
- A square mile of orchards shows no sign of anyone picking anything.
- Half a dozen females share a nest, a simple hollow within the square mile or so of a male's territory.
- Having lived in Deptford all his life, Albie knew every jabber, snorter, speed-freak and pot-head in sixteen square miles.
- It would cover four square miles and be the second biggest in the country.
- Researchers have found the soil to be infested with around 500 grubs per square metre instead of the usual five or so.
- The basins are scattered over 20,000 square miles and fed by underground rivers which extend through Nevada, Utah and California.
- The Buxton Springs are surrounded by 550 square miles of spectacular natural landscape.
- This system was probably capable of supporting about 400 people per square mile.
It’s forty miles from here to the Polish border. an area 50 miles wide and 150 miles long We walked about half a mile. He was driving at 70 miles per hour.2the mile a race that is a mile in length: the first man to run the mile in under four minutes3miles informal a very long distancemile from We were miles from home, and very tired.mile away You can’t go to Portsmouth, it’s miles away.for miles You can see for miles from here. They lived in a little cottage miles from anywhere (=a long way from the nearest town).4go the extra mile to try a little harder in order to achieve something, after you have already used a lot of effort: The president expressed his determination to go the extra mile for peace.5stick out/stand out a mile informal to be very easy to see or notice: It sticks out a mile that you’re new here.6can see/spot/tell something a mile off informal if you can see something a mile off, it is very easy to notice: You can tell a mile off that he likes you.7be miles away spoken to not be paying attention to anything that is happening around you: ‘Kate!’ ‘Sorry, I was miles away!’8miles older/better/too difficult etc British English informal very much older, better, too difficult etc SYN loads: The second film’s miles better.9by a mile informal by a very large amount: He was the best player on the pitch by a mile.10miles out British English informal a measurement, guess, or calculation that is miles out is completely wrong11join the mile high club informal to have sex in a plane → nautical mile, → run a mile at run1(38)