mile

mile — noun

1. a measurement used in the US, the UK, and a few other countries to say how far a

1.nounA1
Definition

a measurement used in the US, the UK, and a few other countries to say how far apart two places are on land. One mile is equal to about 1.6 kilometres, or 1,760 yards.

Example

The nearest town is about five miles from the farm where Kenji grew up.

distance expression: X miles from [place]

Reuben drove at sixty miles per hour on the empty highway.

miles per hour (speed measurement)

Common collocations
  • five miles
  • ten miles
  • miles per hour
  • miles from
  • square mile
  • mile marker
Antonyms
  • kilometre

    the metric unit of distance, used in most countries outside the US and UK

Grammar Patterns

number + miles + from/to/outside + place

miles per hour/gallon

number + square/nautical + mile(s)

Usage Note

Mile is used in the US customary system and the UK imperial system. Most other countries use kilometres. The abbreviation is 'mi.' and can appear on road signs.

Common Mistakes

The shop is three miles far from here.
The shop is three miles from here.
After a specific number of miles, do not add 'far'; 'miles' already expresses distance.
It is a three-miles walk.
It is a three-mile walk.
When used as a compound adjective before a noun, 'mile' stays singular.

2. a running competition in which athletes race a distance of one mile, often held

2.nounB1
Definition

a running competition in which athletes race a distance of one mile, often held on a track during track-and-field events.

Example

Noor trained for months to compete in the mile at the national championships.

compete in + the + mile (event name)

The school held its annual mile every spring on the track behind the gym.

Common collocations
  • the mile
  • win the mile
  • run the mile
  • mile race
  • mile event
Synonyms
  • one-mile race

    more explicit; used when the context is not clearly sporting

Grammar Patterns

run/win/lose + the + mile

the + mile + event/race/championship

Usage Note

When 'the mile' is used without a number, it refers to the race event itself, not the distance. For example: 'He runs the mile' means he competes in the one-mile race.

Common Mistakes

She broke the mile record by two seconds.' (ambiguous whether race or distance).
She broke the mile race record by two seconds.
Clarify that you mean the race event record.

3. the duration a runner records when covering a one-mile distance, often tracked a

3.nounB1
Definition

the duration a runner records when covering a one-mile distance, often tracked as a personal record or used as a training goal.

Example

His best mile is four minutes and twelve seconds, set at the regional final.

possessive + best mile + time

The coach recorded every runner's mile during practice each Tuesday afternoon.

Common collocations
  • best mile
  • mile time
  • improve a mile
  • set a mile
  • mile record
Synonyms
  • mile time

    explicitly refers to the duration; 'mile' alone is ambiguous between race event and time

Grammar Patterns

someone's + best/fastest + mile

improve/set/record + a + mile

Usage Note

This sense is closely related to sense 2 (RACE), but here 'mile' refers to the recorded time rather than the event itself. 'His mile is 4:12' means his time, not the race.

Common Mistakes

My mile is four minutes long.
My mile time is four minutes and twelve seconds.
Use 'mile time' or simply 'mile' in context to mean the duration, and avoid 'long' for a time measurement.

4. a very large physical distance; also used to emphasise a big difference between

4.nounA2
Definition

a very large physical distance; also used to emphasise a big difference between two things, such as quality, opinion, or accuracy.

Example

The nearest hospital is miles from the mountain cabin where Noor stayed.

miles from [place] (figurative distance)

This new café is miles better than the old one near the station.

miles + comparative (miles better/worse)

Common collocations
  • miles from
  • miles better
  • miles worse
  • miles off
  • for miles
  • miles away
Synonyms
  • a long way

    neutral; works in all registers, but lacks the emphasis of 'miles'

  • far

    simpler but does not carry the same emphatic tone; 'far' is an adjective/adverb, not a noun

  • light-years

    stronger figurative hyperbole but much less common and more informal

Antonyms
  • close

    the opposite of a large distance; note that 'close' is an adjective, not a noun

  • nearby

    the opposite of being far away; an adverb or adjective

Grammar Patterns

miles + from + place

miles + comparative adjective (better/worse/off)

for miles

miles away/off

Usage Note

In this sense 'miles' is usually plural even when referring to a singular distance. It often appears in informal comparisons: 'miles better', 'miles off', 'miles away' (literal). Do not confuse with the idiom 'be miles away' (lost in thought).

Common Mistakes

The beach is mile away from here.
The beach is miles away from here.
Use the plural 'miles' for this figurative sense even when referring to a single great distance.
Idioms

be miles away

idiom

to be so focused on your own thoughts that you do not notice what other people are saying or doing around you.

Nkechi was miles away during the meeting and did not hear her name called.

Sorry, I was miles away — could you repeat what you just said?

go the extra mile

idiom

to make more effort than people normally expect, especially in order to help someone or complete a task well.

The night-shift nurse always goes the extra mile to comfort her patients.

If you want to impress the manager, you need to go the extra mile on this project.

run a mile

idiom

to avoid a situation completely because you feel extremely nervous, frightened, or unwilling to deal with it.

Esteban would run a mile if asked to give a speech in front of a large crowd.

Most cats run a mile when they hear the loud noise of a vacuum cleaner.

stand / stick out a mile

idiom

to be extremely easy to see or recognize because you are very different from the people or things around you.

With her bright orange backpack, Ayana stuck out a mile in the crowd.

It stands out a mile that Christopher has not read the instructions.

see / spot / tell something a mile off

idiom

to notice or understand something immediately and with very little effort.

You could see from a mile off that Olivia was not enjoying the party.

I could tell a mile off that the story about the ghost was completely made up.

miles from anywhere

idiom

in a very remote place far from any town, city, or other place where people live.

Their cottage is miles from anywhere, hidden deep in the Welsh countryside.

The car broke down on a narrow road that was miles from anywhere.

a miss is as good as a mile

idiom

used to say that failing at something by a very small margin has the same disappointing result as failing by a large margin.

He missed the train by ten seconds, but a miss is as good as a mile.

She lost the race by just 0.01 seconds — a miss is as good as a mile, they say.

give somebody an inch (and they will take a mile)

idiom

said when someone who is given a small amount of freedom or power uses it to take much more than you intended to give.

Soo-jin let her sister borrow one dress; now her sister wants all of them — give an inch, take a mile.

The landlord worries that if he gives them an inch, they will take a mile.

give somebody an inch (and they’ll take a mile/yard)

idiom

This means that if you let someone have a little freedom or power, they will try to take much more.

I let my son stay up late once, and he stayed up until midnight. Give him an inch and he'll take a mile.

The new manager gave the team a small break, and they started arriving late every day. Give an inch and they take a mile.

go the extra mile (for somebody/something)

idiom

This means to make a special effort to achieve something or help someone beyond what is expected.

Our teacher always goes the extra mile to help us understand difficult topics.

Diego went the extra mile for his friend by driving her to the airport at 5 AM.

run a mile (from somebody/something)

idiom

This means to show that you are very frightened of doing something or dealing with someone.

When I mentioned the spider, Sara would run a mile from the room.

Most people would run a mile from speaking in front of a large crowd.

stand/stick out a mile

idiom

This means to be very obvious or easy to notice.

In that fancy restaurant, his casual clothes stuck out a mile.

It stands out a mile that Aiden is not telling the truth.

Word family

  • mileage
    nounB2
  • milestone
    nounB2
  • miler
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/4

All four expressions describe a large physical or figurative gap, but they differ in grammar and tone. 'A long way' is the most neutral and versatile — it works in any register ('The library is a long way from here') and can be modified ('quite a long way', 'a very long way'). 'Far' is more compact but requires a negative or question in many contexts ('It's not far'; 'How far is it?'), and in affirmative statements it sounds literary or formal ('Far from the city, they found peace'). 'A great distance' is more formal and less common in everyday speech; it appears in written descriptions ('The satellite travelled a great distance before transmitting'). 'Light-years' is a playful hyperbole borrowed from astronomy, used informally for extreme gaps in quality or progress ('This new phone is light-years ahead of the old model'). While 'miles' (the headword in this sense) is the most colloquial and emphatic choice for everyday exaggeration. For a learner, 'a long way' and 'miles' are the safest options for spoken English, while 'a great distance' suits formal writing.

a long wayfar ↗a great distancelight-years

Common collocations

Nouns

  • mile marker
  • mile sign
  • mile run
  • mile race
  • square mile
  • mile record
  • mile time
  • mile distance

Adverbs

Phrases

  • miles per hour
  • miles per gallon
  • per mile
  • within a mile of
  • for miles around

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinOld EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word 'mile' comes from the Latin phrase 'mīlia passuum', meaning 'thousands of paces'. In ancient Rome, a mile was defined as 1,000 paces (each pace being two steps). The Latin 'mīlle' (thousand) entered Old English as 'mīl', and over time the distance was standardised in England to 5,280 feet, known as the statute mile. The same Latin root also gives us 'millennium' (thousand years) and 'million' (thousand thousand).