inching

verb

1. (form-of, gerund, participle, present)present participle and gerund of inch

noun

1. Very gradual movement.

   “From behind the trucks of the box-car a slender pole, headed with what appeared to be an empty oyster tin, and trailing a black line of fuse, was projecting itself along the ground by slow inchings, creeping across the lighted space […]”