Meanings
alternative give someone an inch and someone will take a mile
- Granting someone a limited concession will encourage them to take greater liberties.
Don't let us tempt the devil to tempt us. If we give Satan an inch, he will take a mile.
1881, Charles H. Spurgeon, John Ploughman's Pictures; or, More of His Plain Talk for Plain People, Springfield, OH: Farm and Fireside, page 645 more examples
O the tyranny of aristocracy!—give it a furlong, and it will take a mile,—a veto stopped me once from going to Brussels: and now comes a Lettre de cachet ordering me to Paris.
1843, John Bowring, editor, The Works of Jeremy Bentham, volume 10, Edinburgh: William Tait, pages 279–280If you had a horse or a small article of property taken, you would recover it by law; not for the value of the article itself, but if you give an aggressor an inch, he will take a mile.
1846, George C. Clark, Means Vs. Anti-Means; or the Trial of the Baptist Church Case in the Rush Circuit Court, 2nd corrected edition, Rushville, Ind., published 1895, page 75Show them that those who have defended the nation with the sword can control it by the ballot-box. Give no cowardly scamp an inch, or he will take a mile.
1865, H. Clay Graham, Hialmer's Recollections of the Great Rebellion, Containing Sketches of a Campaign in Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, […], Indianapolis, IN: H. C. Chandler, page 77Buy for them beautiful pictures, and encourage them to decorate their rooms each in his or her own childish way. Give them an inch and they will take a mile. Allow them the privilege and they will make your home beautiful.
1869 February, “The Family Circle: The Love of the Beautiful”, in I. W. Wiley, editor, The Ladies' Repository: A Monthly Periodical, Devoted to Literature and Religion (new series; volume 3), volume 29, Cincinnati, OH: Hitchcock & Walden, page 153Undertake to make men of students by giving full immunities, and lawlessness, or perhaps we should say carelessness and indifference, results. "Give them an inch and they will take a mile," is the maxim that illustrates their course.
1870 March, “Editor's Table”, in The Yale Literary Magazine, volume 35, number 5, page 248Synonyms: give them an inch and they'll take an ell, give someone an inch and he'll take a yard
Synonyms & antonyms
proverbGranting someone a limited concession will encourage them to take greater liberties.
Origin
A modified variant of the expression give them an inch and they'll take an ell, adjusted for the obsolescence of the ell due to the standardization of the imperial system.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Danish når man rækker Fanden en lillefinger, tager han hele hånden
- når man rækker Fanden en lillefinger, tager han hele håndena limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
Estonian kui annad näpu, siis võtab terve käe
- kui annad näpu, siis võtab terve käea limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
Finnish kun antaa pahalle pikkusormen, se vie koko käden
- kun antaa pahalle pikkusormen, se vie koko kädena limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
French tendez-leur la main et ils vous prennent le bras
- tendez-leur la main et ils vous prennent le brasa limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
German gib jemandem den kleinen Finger und er nimmt die ganze Hand
- gib jemandem den kleinen Finger und er nimmt die ganze Handa limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
Hebrew נותנים לו אצבע והוא רוצה את כל היד
- נותנים לו אצבע והוא רוצה את כל היד (notním lo étzba v'hu rotzé et kol hayyád)a limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
Indonesian seperti Belanda minta tanah, diberi betis, hendak paha
- seperti Belanda minta tanaha limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
- diberi betis, hendak pahaa limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
- diberi kepala, hendak bahua limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
- diberi sejari, hendak setelempapa limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
- diberi sejengkal hendak sehasta, diberi sehasta hendak sedepaa limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
Polish daj komuś palec, a weźmie całą rękę
- daj komuś palec, a weźmie całą rękęa limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
Russian ему́ па́льца в рот не клади́ - сапо́г не оста́нется
- ему́ па́льца в рот не клади́ - сапо́г не оста́нется (jemú pálʹca v rot ne kladí - sapóg ne ostánetsja)a limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
Thai ได้คืบจะเอาศอก
- ได้คืบจะเอาศอก (dâai-kʉ̂ʉp-jà-ao-sɔ̀ɔk)a limited concession will encourage someone to take greater liberties
Cite this entry
give them an inch and they'll take a mile. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20them%20an%20inch%20and%20they'll%20take%20a%20mile
“give them an inch and they'll take a mile.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20them%20an%20inch%20and%20they'll%20take%20a%20mile. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “give them an inch and they'll take a mile,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/give%20them%20an%20inch%20and%20they'll%20take%20a%20mile.
Source: give them an inch and they'll take a mile on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.