Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 8th edition

mile
BrE /mal/
NAmE /mal/
noun

1 [countable] a unit for measuring distance equal to 1609 metres or 1760 yards
a 20-mile drive to work
an area of four square miles
a mile-long procession
The nearest bank is about half a mile down the road.
We did about 30 miles a day on our cycling trip.
The car must have been doing at least 100 miles an hour.
(BrE) My car does 35 miles to the gallon.
(NAmE) My car gets 35 miles to the gallon.
see also Air Miles, mph, nautical mile

2 miles [plural] a large area or a long distance

miles and miles of desert
There isn't a house for miles around here.
I'm not walkingit's miles away.

3 [countable,usually plural] (informal) very much; far

I'm feeling miles better today, thanks.
I'm miles behind with my work.
She's taller than you by a mile.

4 the mile [singular] a race over one mile

He ran the mile in less than four minutes.
a four-minute mile
be miles away (informal) to be thinking deeply about sth and not aware of what is
happening around you
go the extra mile (for sb/sth)
to make a special effort to achieve sth, help sb, etc.
miles from anywhere (informal) in a place that is a long way from a town and
surrounded only by a lot of open country, sea, etc
We broke down miles from anywhere.
run a mile (from sb/sth) (informal) to show that you are very frightened of doing sth
see, spot, tell, smell, etc. sth a mile off (informal) to see or realize sth very easily
and quickly
He's wearing a wigyou can see it a mile off.
After twenty years in the police she could smell a liar a mile off.

Oxford University Press, 2010

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 8th edition

stand/stick out a mile

to be very obvious or noticeable
It stood out a mile that she was lying.
more at give sb an inch (and they'll take a mile/yard) at inchn., a miss is as
good as a mile at missn.

Oxford University Press, 2010