IM
1 Americanverb (used without object)
abbreviation
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Swimming. individual medley.
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Sports. intramural.
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Also I.M. Isle of Man.
abbreviation
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computing instant messaging
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Also: i.m.. intramuscular
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chess International Master
contraction
prefix
abbreviation
Usage
See contraction.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of IM1
First recorded in 1990–95
Origin of -im7
From Hebrew
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Operating expenses rose 5.5% from a year earlier to 8.71 billion euros, in part due to restructuring charges related to the the AXA IM integration, BNP Paribas added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
By watching how spirals move in the IM Lupi disc over time, the team could tell that they were caused by a new planet being born and not a planet growing bigger!
From Space Scoop ● Oct. 24, 2025
She holds the world record in the 400 IM; she swam it in 4:24.38 at last year’s Canadian swimming finals.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2025
Meanwhile, SAIC’s IM Motors has filed an intellectual property application for an in-car plant-care system, which will collect rain from the roof and water generated by the vehicle’s cooling system.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 18, 2024
I’m sure my mom will eventually allow me access to the Internet and we’ll be able to IM again, but it won’t be enough.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
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“Maybe I’m still too young for everything I’m going through right now. But soccer is something to be enjoyed. Opportunities will come your way if you’re willing to make sacrifices and all that.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
"I'm a football coach and I try to demand the very best and not settle for lower standards," said Tuchel, brushing aside any suggestion of tension inside the camp.
From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2026
"I have never once thought about how I'm going to be remembered," said the 30-year-old American.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
Later in the collection, the Amy Winehouse cover “You Know I’m No Good” is an interesting choice, but it adds nothing to the original, while the penultimate “Back in Your Life” is a fine ballad.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The moment I walk out of my room, I’m greeted by music.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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The sheriff listened with a distracted look on his face, but when I said I was going to see the judge, he agreed to move the child into a protected area im- mediately.
From MSNBC ● Oct. 22, 2014
In the maneuver, the black king was safely im- planted, then the rook was shrewdly returned.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Richardson believes that his most important, if intangible accomplishment is "the growing sense of a departmental mission to im- prove the quality and accessibility of services to the people."
From Time Magazine Archive
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Penn keeps you wondering whether he's going to im- or explode.
From Time Magazine Archive
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It was the first line im- mediately above what you did quote.
From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 5 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Discussions by Ingersoll, Robert Green
Originally the Accusative Singular ended in -im, the Ablative Singular in -ī, and the Accusative Plural in -īs; but these endings have been largely displaced by -em, -e, and -ēs, the endings of Consonant-Stems.
From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
Town and river names in -is regularly have -im, -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
Words marked with a star regularly have Acc. -im; those marked with a † regularly have Abl. -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
Of the others, many at times show -im and -ī.
From New Latin Grammar by Bennett, Charles E. (Charles Edwin)
In a heavily redacted message, Epstein wrote: “Hi , im jeffrey. Brett ratner thought we should meet.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 2026
"It was me at UVU yesterday. im sorry for all of this," reads a message from an account that allegedly belongs to Robinson, according to the spokesperson and a law enforcement source.
From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2025
“Im trying to get updates on whether world war 3 is on but all im seeing are fat JD vance memes.”
From Slate ● Mar. 5, 2025
When Women’s March shared information about an upcoming rally on Instagram, one person responded, “No im tired, yall have fun though.”
From Salon ● Nov. 25, 2024
I sensed it meant something a lot like zolst im derhargenen.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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IM's target is at 80 degrees South, a mere 300km from the south pole proper.
From BBC ● Feb. 22, 2024
Working with my then-adviser, the Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, I analyzed the U.S. government data to show how the trajectory and other properties of IM’s fireball were consistent with the meteor having an interstellar origin.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 5, 2023
Michael Garin, CEO of Abu Dhabi-based Image Nation, said Cannes had generated significant interest for IM's film version of Dave Eggers's novel "The Circle".
From Reuters ● May 20, 2015
Mark Zuckerberg’s undergrad IM’s, scorning the “dumb” users of Facebook’s prototype, presaged the privacy policies of his $164 billion company today.
From Time ● May 30, 2014
In the final 50 meters of the IM’s freestyle leg, she swam faster than Ryan Lochte did in that portion of his gold-medal-winning 400-meter IM.
From Slate ● Aug. 1, 2012
They’ve checked in via text, email, IMs, chats and every other way imaginable since the disaster made national and world news.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2025
With 19-year-old Emma Weyant taking silver in the women’s race, behind Japan’s Yui Ohashi, and Hali Flickinger winning bronze, the Americans earned the maximum four of the available six medals in the 400 IMs.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 24, 2021
Four of the six Olympic medals won by László Cseh between 2004 and 2012 came in IM and then Katinka Hosszú swept gold in the IMs four years ago in Rio de Janeiro.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 21, 2021
If you can get it working, though, you’ll be rewarded with a new tab at the bottom of the Gmail app, giving you access to your IMs.
From The Verge ● May 13, 2021
After all the IMs I felt like I knew him, but now with him standing in front of me it doesn’t feel that way at all.
From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon
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One last thing: A friend IM’d me a theory this morning that I want to run by you guys and the readers: “The show depicts paranoia, social anxiety, and hallucinations,” he wrote.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2012
I said yes to a request from Markie's parents to babysit the next day, and I IM’d JonPaul to see how he was feeling.
From "Liar, Liar" by Gary Paulsen
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“That explains why you haven’t asked me yet! Guess what. Corey IM’d me! We chatted for, like, almost an hour.”
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
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Nancy IM'd Ned again: "How can I find him?"
From "Case of the Sneaky Snowman: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #5" by Carolyn Keene
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Through this, he found my personal email and started IM'ing me constantly.
From Slate ● Feb. 6, 2012
"I was sick of that fabric being all bundled up there," he IMed back.
From Time Magazine Archive
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In addition…introverted participants profited from IMing more than did extraverts.”
From Scientific American ● Jul. 31, 2015
In the movie: No IMing that we see, which makes sense, considering the Fault and Paper Towns screenwriters took out most of the video game playing in Fault.
From Time ● Jul. 24, 2015
We began to talk every morning and night while IMing throughout the day.
From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2013
He and his friends have co-ed parties, go ice skating together, and never stop IMing.
From Slate ● Mar. 15, 2012
They called him "Ruthless" and I'd seen a news report once about how tight a rein he kept his staffers on, calling them, IMing them, watching their every motion, controlling every step.
From Little Brother by Doctorow, Cory
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.