mile

[[t]ma͟ɪl[/t]]

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miles

1) N-COUNT: num N 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) N-PLURAL 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 you should...

I was miles and miles from anywhere...

`Shall I come to see you?' - `Are you kidding? It's miles.'

3) N-COUNT: usu pl (emphasis) 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]

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.

Syn:

loads

4) PHRASE: v-link PHR If you say that someone is miles away, you mean that they are unaware of what is happening around them because they are thinking about something else. [INFORMAL]

What were you thinking about? You were miles away.

5) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone is willing to go the extra mile, you mean that they are willing to make a special effort to do or achieve something.

The President is determined `to go the extra mile for peace'.

6) PHRASE: PHR after v (emphasis) If you say that you can see or recognize something a mile off, you are emphasizing that it is very obvious and easy to recognize. [INFORMAL]

You can spot undercover cops a mile off.

7) PHRASE: V inflects If you say that someone would run a mile when faced with a particular situation, you mean that they would be very frightened or unwilling to deal with it. [INFORMAL]

If anybody had told me when I first got married that I was going to have seven children, I would have run a mile...

I'm very squeamish and when I see needles I run a mile.

8) PHRASE: V inflects (emphasis) If you say that something or someone sticks out a mile or stands out a mile, you are emphasizing that they are very obvious and easy to recognize. [INFORMAL]

`How do you know he's Irish?' - `Sticks out a mile.'...

We stood out a mile on that first day at school.