Search Result for "mile": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (8)

1. a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters;
[syn: mile, statute mile, stat mi, land mile, international mile, mi]

2. a unit of length used in navigation; exactly 1,852 meters; historically based on the distance spanned by one minute of arc in latitude;
[syn: nautical mile, mile, mi, naut mi, knot, international nautical mile, air mile]

3. a large distance;
- Example: "he missed by a mile"

4. a former British unit of length once used in navigation; equivalent to 6,000 feet (1828.8 meters);
[syn: sea mile, mile]

5. a former British unit of length equivalent to 6,080 feet (1,853.184 meters); 800 feet longer than a statute mile;
[syn: nautical mile, naut mi, mile, mi, geographical mile, Admiralty mile]

6. an ancient Roman unit of length equivalent to 1620 yards;
[syn: mile, Roman mile]

7. a Swedish unit of length equivalent to 10 km;
[syn: mile, mil, Swedish mile]

8. a footrace extending one mile;
- Example: "he holds the record in the mile"


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Mile \Mile\ (m[imac]l), n. [AS. m[imac]l, fr. L. millia, milia; pl. of mille a thousand, i. e., milia passuum a thousand paces. Cf. Mill the tenth of a cent, Million.] A certain measure of distance, being equivalent in England and the United States to 320 poles or rods, or 5,280 feet. [1913 Webster] Note: The distance called a mile varies greatly in different countries. Its length in yards is, in Norway, 12,182; in Brunswick, 11,816; in Sweden, 11,660; in Hungary, 9,139; in Switzerland, 8,548; in Austria, 8,297; in Prussia, 8,238; in Poland, 8,100; in Italy, 2,025; in England and the United States, 1,760; in Spain, 1,552; in the Netherlands, 1,094. [1913 Webster] Geographical mile or Nautical mile, one sixtieth of a degree of a great circle of the earth, or 6080.27 feet. Mile run. Same as Train mile. See under Train. Roman mile, a thousand paces, equal to 1,614 yards English measure. Statute mile, a mile conforming to statute, that is, in England and the United States, a mile of 5,280 feet, as distinguished from any other mile. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

mile n 1: a unit of length equal to 1,760 yards or 5,280 feet; exactly 1609.344 meters [syn: mile, statute mile, stat mi, land mile, international mile, mi] 2: a unit of length used in navigation; exactly 1,852 meters; historically based on the distance spanned by one minute of arc in latitude [syn: nautical mile, mile, mi, naut mi, knot, international nautical mile, air mile] 3: a large distance; "he missed by a mile" 4: a former British unit of length once used in navigation; equivalent to 6,000 feet (1828.8 meters) [syn: sea mile, mile] 5: a former British unit of length equivalent to 6,080 feet (1,853.184 meters); 800 feet longer than a statute mile [syn: nautical mile, naut mi, mile, mi, geographical mile, Admiralty mile] 6: an ancient Roman unit of length equivalent to 1620 yards [syn: mile, Roman mile] 7: a Swedish unit of length equivalent to 10 km [syn: mile, mil, Swedish mile] 8: a footrace extending one mile; "he holds the record in the mile"
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:

Mile (from Lat. mille, "a thousand;" Matt. 5:41), a Roman measure of 1,000 paces of 5 feet each. Thus the Roman mile has 1618 yards, being 142 yards shorter than the English mile.
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

MILE, measure. A length of a thousand paces, or seventeen hundred and sixty yards, or five thousand two hundred and eighty feet. It contains eight furlongs, every furlong being forty poles, and each pole sixteen feet six inches. 2 Stark. R. 89.