A mile is a unit of distance equal to 1760 yards or approximately 1.6 kilometres.
They drove 600 miles across the desert.
The hurricane is moving to the west at about 18 miles per hour.
She lives just half a mile away.
There's a lake up there, about ten miles long.
...a 50-mile bike ride.
2. plural noun
Miles is used, especially in the expression miles away, to refer to a long distance.
If you enrol at a gym that's miles away, you won't be visiting it as often as youshould.
I was miles and miles from anywhere.
'Shall I come to see you?'—'Are you kidding? It's miles.'
3. countable noun [usually plural]
Miles or a mile is used with the meaning 'very much' in order to emphasize the difference between two things or qualities, or the difference between what you aimed to do and what you actually achieved.
[informal, emphasis]
You're miles better than most of the performers we see nowadays.
With a Labour candidate in place they won by a mile.
The rehearsals were miles too slow and no work was getting done.
4.
See miles away
5.
See to go the extra mile
6.
See a mile off
7.
See run a mile
8.
See to stick out a mile
mile in British English
(maɪl)
noun
1. Also called: statute mile
a unit of length used in the UK, the US, and certain other countries, equal to 1760yards. 1 mile is equivalent to 1.609 34 kilometres
2. nautical mile
3. Swedish mile
4.
any of various units of length used at different times and places, esp the Roman mile, equivalent to 1620 yards
5. (often plural) informal
a great distance; great deal
he missed by a mile
6.
a race extending over a mile
adverb
7. miles
Word origin
Old English mīl, from Latin mīlia (passuum) a thousand (paces)
mile in American English
(maɪl)
nounWord forms: pluralmiles or mile
a unit of length in the FPS system, equal to 5,280 feet or 1,760 yards or 8 furlongs (1.609344 kilometers or 0.869 nautical mile); statute mile
abbrev. mi
Word origin
ME < OE mil, pl. mila < WGmc *milja < L milia, pl. of mille, thousand, in milia passuum, thousand paces, mile
More idioms containing
mile
give someone an inch and they'll take a mile
go the extra mile
a mile off
run a mile
Examples of 'mile' in a sentence
mile
Teams run that extra mile against you.
The Sun (2016)
The lava would have burst out of the crust at hundreds of miles an hour.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
This race should set up better and the extra half a mile will suit.
The Sun (2016)
The average traffic jam was six miles long.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
They were found about half a mile apart.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Data showed his mobile had moved a distance of 12 miles.
The Sun (2016)
I ride the bike about 100 miles a week.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
Selsey is a village on the south coast, eight miles from Chichester.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
People come from miles around to see them.
The Sun (2013)
All those thousands of miles run in the belief that one day it will pay off.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
You claim you did not know the difference between kilometres per hour and miles per hour.
The Sun (2015)
Yet most medics consistently go that extra mile for their patients.
The Sun (2012)
The king with the gold wins by miles.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Others were reported up to ten miles away.
The Sun (2011)
The island is barely half a mile wide and nine miles long.
The Sun (2008)
Yet a quarter of all car trips last year were under two miles in length.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
She had to walk eight miles a day there and back to work.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The beach is half a mile away.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Then he has to cycle through hundreds of miles of desert.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Coventry airport is five miles to the south.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The energetic come down on ropes or slide into view at about thirty miles an hour.
The Times Literary Supplement (2011)
Any staff member prepared to go the extra mile and come up with good ideas is likely to be valuable.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
He carried it home, a distance of two miles.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
On the next two days we covered 60 miles on the bikes.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
Since he disappeared, six other dogs have gone missing within five miles of my house.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
For the first 50 miles the present tax benefits for sponsors would be as at present.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Especially one with the speed to run over the minimum distance, two miles.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Training depends on the season: in the summer we run three miles maybe twice a week.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Word lists with
mile
Imperial system
In other languages
mile
British English: mile /maɪl/ NOUN
A mile is a unit of distance equal to approximately 1.6 kilometres.
These animals usually swim no faster than five miles per hour.
American English: mile
Arabic: مِيلٌ
Brazilian Portuguese: milha
Chinese: 英里
Croatian: milja
Czech: míle
Danish: mil
Dutch: mijl
European Spanish: milla
Finnish: maili
French: mile
German: Meile
Greek: μίλι
Italian: miglio
Japanese: マイル
Korean: 마일
Norwegian: engelsk mil
Polish: mila
European Portuguese: milha
Romanian: milă
Russian: миля
Latin American Spanish: milla
Swedish: engelsk mile
Thai: ไมล์
Turkish: mil
Ukrainian: миля
Vietnamese: dặm
Chinese translation of 'mile'
mile
(maɪl)
n(c)
英里 (yīnglǐ)
to do 30 miles to the gallon1加仑(侖)油可跑30英里(裡) (yī jiālún yóu kě pǎo sānshí yīnglǐ)
70 miles per or an hour每小时(時)70英里 (měi xiǎoshí qīshí yīnglǐ)
to win by a mile or miles (inf) 远(遠)远(遠)胜(勝)出 (yuǎnyuǎn shèngchū)
to be miles away (inf, = distracted) 心不在焉 (xīn bù zài yān)
miles better/too slow (inf) 好得多/过(過)分慢 (hǎo de duō/guòfèn màn)
Derived Forms
milesn pl (inf, = a long way) 很远(遠)的距离(離) (hěn yuǎn de jùlí)