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mile

/maɪl/
/maɪl/
IPA guide

Other forms: miles

A mile is a unit for measuring distance. There are 1,760 yards in a mile, which is the same as 5,280 feet or 63,360 inches. If you're exhausted in the morning, your mile-long walk to school might feel much longer.

In the U.S. and the U.K., the mile is the standard unit for measuring roads and highways, while most other countries use the kilometer instead. You might hear people talk about how many miles per gallon their cars can go, or how many miles per hour they're allowed to drive. Informally, the word miles also means "a long way," or "a lot," so you might describe a crowd stretching for miles. The Latin root, milia, means "thousands."

Definitions of mile
  1. noun
    a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters
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    type of:
    linear measure, linear unit
    a unit of measurement of length
  2. noun
    a former British unit of length equivalent to 6,080 feet (1,853.184 meters); 800 feet longer than a statute mile
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    type of:
    nautical linear unit
    a linear unit of distance used in navigation
  3. noun
    a footrace extending one mile
    “he holds the record in the mile
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    type of:
    track event
    a footrace performed on a track (indoor or outdoor)
  4. noun
    a large distance
    “he missed by a mile
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    type of:
    large indefinite amount, large indefinite quantity
    an indefinite quantity that is above the average in size or magnitude
  5. noun
    a unit of length used in navigation; exactly 1,852 meters; historically based on the distance spanned by one minute of arc in latitude
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    type of:
    nautical linear unit
    a linear unit of distance used in navigation
  6. noun
    a former British unit of length once used in navigation; equivalent to 6,000 feet (1828.8 meters)
    synonyms: sea mile
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    type of:
    nautical linear unit
    a linear unit of distance used in navigation
  7. noun
    a Swedish unit of length equivalent to 10 km
    synonyms: Swedish mile, mil
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    type of:
    linear measure, linear unit
    a unit of measurement of length
  8. noun
    an ancient Roman unit of length equivalent to 1620 yards
    synonyms: Roman mile
    see moresee less
    type of:
    linear measure, linear unit
    a unit of measurement of length
Pronunciation
US
/maɪl/
UK
/maɪl/
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DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘mile'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
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