go the extra mile
/ˈɡəʊ ði ˈɛk.stɹə ˈmaɪl/
"go-the-extra-mile" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“go the extra mile” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 17
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To make an extra effort; to do a particularly good job.
Corpus desk
Index EN-go-the-extra-mile · go the extra mile · English
go the extra mile · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 17 letters
- VOW-6 6 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | go the extra mile |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈɡəʊ ði ˈɛk.stɹə ˈmaɪl/ |
| Letters | 17 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “go the extra mile” in English
Rare enough to double-check
go the extra mile is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈɡəʊ ði ˈɛk.stɹə ˈmaɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To make an extra effort; to do a particularly good job.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for go the extra mile, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: * Possibly from the gospel of Matthew ch.5: v.41 *: "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain." The correct English form is go the extra mile, spelled G-O- -T-H-E- -E-X-T-R-A- -M-I-L-E.
Definition
- 1To make an extra effort; to do a particularly good job.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how go the extra mile appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
President Reagan pledged at a news conference today “to go the extra mile” to compromise with Democrats.
The international community demands that Iran go the extra mile to satisfy concerns over its atomic energy program.
Etymology
* Possibly from the gospel of Matthew ch.5: v.41 *: "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain."
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.