(used to indicate inclusion within space, a place, or limits).
walking in the park.
(used to indicate inclusion within something abstract or immaterial).
in politics; in the autumn.
(used to indicate inclusion within or occurrence during a period or limit of time).
in ancient times; a task done in ten minutes.
(used to indicate limitation or qualification, as of situation, condition, relation, manner, action, etc.).
to speak in a whisper; to be similar in appearance.
(used to indicate means).
sketched in ink; spoken in French.
(used to indicate motion or direction from outside to a point within) into.
Let's go in the house.
(used to indicate transition from one state to another).
to break in half.
(used to indicate object or purpose).
speaking in honor of the event.
in or into some place, position, state, relation, etc..
Please come in.
on the inside; within.
in one's house or office.
in office or power.
in possession or occupancy.
having the turn to play, as in a game.
Baseball. (of an infielder or outfielder) in a position closer to home plate than usual; short.
The third baseman played in, expecting a bunt.
on good terms; in favor.
He's in with his boss, but he doubts it will last.
Informal. in vogue; in style.
He says straw hats will be in this year.
in season.
Watermelons will soon be in.
located or situated within; inner; internal.
the in part of a mechanism.
Informal.
in favor with stylish or trendy people; currently popular: the in thing to do.
the in place to dine;
the in thing to do.
keeping up with the latest trends and fashions.
the in clique at school.
Informal. comprehensible only to a special or ultrasophisticated group.
an in joke.
well-liked; included in a favored group.
inward; incoming; inbound.
an in train.
plentiful; available.
being in power, authority, control, etc..
a member of the in party.
Golf. of or relating to the playing of the last nine holes of an eighteen-hole golf course (opposed to out).
His in score on the second round was 34.
Usually ins persons in office or political power (distinguished from outs).
a member of the political party in power.
The election made him an in.
pull or influence; a social advantage or connection.
He's got an in with the senator.
(in tennis, squash, handball, etc.) a return or service that lands within the in-bounds limits of a court or section of a court (opposed to out).
be in for, to be bound to undergo something, especially a disagreeable experience.
We are in for a long speech.
in for it, about to suffer chastisement or unpleasant consequences, especially of one's own actions or omissions: Also for it.
I forgot our anniversary again, and I'll be in for it now.
in with, on friendly terms with; familiar or associating with.
They are in with all the important people.
in that, because; inasmuch as.
In that you won't have time for supper, let me give you something now.
in; into; towards; within; on
infiltrate
immigrate
having an intensive or causative function
inflame
imperil
inside; within
no smoking in the auditorium
at a place where there is
lying in the shade
walking in the rain
indicating a state, situation, or condition
in a deep sleep
standing in silence
before or when (a period of time) has elapsed
come back in one year
using (a language, etc) as a means of communication
written in code
concerned or involved with, esp as an occupation
in journalism
expressing a ratio, proportion, or probability
one in five boys
while or by performing the action of; as a consequence of or by means of
in crossing the street he was run over
used to indicate goal or purpose
in honour of the president
(used of certain animals) about to give birth to; pregnant with (specified offspring)
in foal
in calf
a variant of into
she fell in the water
he tore the paper in two
(often foll by an infinitive) to have the ability (to do something)
informal joining in; taking part
(conjunction) because or to the extent that; inasmuch as
I regret my remark in that it upset you
no difference or interval between two things
in or into a particular place; inward or indoors
come in
bring him in
so as to achieve office, power, or authority
the Conservatives got in at the last election
so as to enclose
block in
cover in a hole
(in certain games) so as to take one's turn or one's team's turn at a certain aspect of the play; taking one's innings
you have to get the other side out before you go in
(of a fire) alight
do you keep the fire in all night?
(in combination) indicating an activity or gathering, esp one organized to protest against something
teach-in
work-in
present at (the beginning, end, etc)
between
about to be affected by (something, esp something unpleasant)
you're in for a shock
acquainted with or sharing in
I was in on all his plans
associated with; friendly with; regarded highly by
informal to wish or intend harm towards
(stressed) fashionable; modish
the in thing to do
competing
you've got to be in to win
indicating a neutral organic compound, including proteins, glucosides, and glycerides
insulin
digitoxin
tripalmitin
indicating an enzyme in certain nonsystematic names
pepsin
indicating a pharmaceutical substance
penicillin
riboflavin
aspirin
indicating a chemical substance in certain nonsystematic names
coumarin
The prefixes in- and un- may both have, among other uses, a negative force. In- is the form derived from Latin, and is therefore used in learned words or in words derived from Latin or (rarely) Greek: inaccessible, inaccuracy, inadequate, etc. Un- is the native form going back to Old English, used in words of native origin, and sometimes used in combination with words of other origins if these words are in common use: unloving, ungodly, unfeeling, unnecessary, unsafe.
First recorded before 900; 1925–30 in for def. 29; Middle English, Old English; cognate with German, Dutch, Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Gothic in, Old Norse ī, Latin in, Greek en, Lithuanian į
Middle English, Old English; see in
From Latin, combining form of in (preposition); cognate with in
< Latin; akin to an- 1, a- 6, un- 1
Middle English -in, -ine < Old French < Latin -inus, -ina, -inum < Greek -inos, -inē, -inon
< New Latin -ina. See -ine 2
When one thing is in another, it is surrounded by or within it, the way chocolate chips are in a bowl of cookie batter. In is a word with many different uses. A child can be in a sandbox, and a teenager can be in love. You can sit in your car, or say to a friend, "See you in an hour!" An actor might be in a film, while your dad tells people he's in publishing, and both live in New York City. If your clothes are in, they're stylish, and if you're locked in your room, you're confined inside it.
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The scope of the probe by lawyers at WilmerHale was disclosed in a footnote to the report’s summary, which was released after a five-month review.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
It wouldn’t be LeBron landing in a more desirable locale.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
In a statement this week, the Microsoft co-founder said that completing the review was a critical step in providing “the clarity that partners, employees, and grantees deserve.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The next chapter will start eventually, and likely it will be set in a location where LeBron can compete and have a good time, and that he and his family can feel good about.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
The deportation hearings are turning in her favor and her health has steadily improved.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
In Soto’s first season, the team collapsed down the stretch, falling from more than 20 games over .500 in June, to miss the playoffs on the final day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
In a statement shared with local media outlets Tuesday, the family spokesperson said Forbes “regrets and apologizes for any and all behavior she exhibited during her personal mental health crisis.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
During one e-mail to Epstein released in the files, Siad wrote in badly-spelled English: "In This busyness I feel like fisherman some time I cache quick, some time no fish".
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
In 31 international countries the findings are similar, though they vary by market: Since 1990 they found the Portuguese stock market showing the most momentum and the Japanese showing the least.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
In 1936—the same year Joey gives birth to a daughter named Cynthia—Shingo tours the Philippines and other parts of Southeast Asia.
From "At Last She Stood" by Erin Entrada Kelly
It also involved Teresa Femenía, a researcher at IN CSIC-UMH, who played a key role in developing the experimental work.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 8, 2025
IN 1963, Spike Lee was one member of the “first Black family in Cobble Hill.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2025
The ex-rugby star has already raised millions for charity since his former teammate Rob Burrow, 41, was diagnosed with MND IN 2019.
From BBC ● Dec. 8, 2023
Stellantis and South Korea's Samsung SDI Co Ltd said on Wednesday they will build a second electric vehicle battery plant in Kokomo, IN, the hometown of United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain.
From Reuters ● Oct. 11, 2023
IN OUR WAGON, there was a friend of my father's, Meir Katz.
From "Night" by Elie Wiesel
Not that they''re a shoo in- there's a lot of resentment against Mr Sharif and his party, who are blamed for Pakistan's economic misery.
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2024
And because the government is no longer paying for everyone’s vaccine, headaches around in- and out-of-network coverage are adding to the confusion.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2023
Johanna Mayer: Yeah, he was 55, so they were sort of in- in their prime of their careers and their relationship.
From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023
But Riley often takes mesh to another level by adding more in- or out-breaking routes at different depths.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2022
She’d been sent to Britain in 1941, charged with setting up a network of in- formants and sending useful intelligence to the Soviet Union.
From "Bomb" by Steve Sheinkin
"Little or no sustained growth can be expected until fiscal, debt, and -in some cases- inflation problems are addressed" by the three, the report concludes.
From Reuters ● Sep. 7, 2023
There will be a two-week winter break beginning on 22 December, during much of which players will be away from training -in contrast to England, where games are being played every few days.
From BBC ● Dec. 17, 2021
More than 110,000 U.S. eating and drinking establishments closed - temporarily or permanently -in 2020.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 6, 2021
Corbyn, -in his speech, said the referendum held a deep symbolism for voters on both sides, which went far beyond a relationship with Europe.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 10, 2019
SELF-IMPOTENCE in plants. -in individual plants. -of hybrids.
From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 2 by Darwin, Charles
“They didn’t necessarily look at how many hours I put in. They were just looking at whether I was producing.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
"We shopkeepers are in a very difficult situation. Customers can no longer come in. We're forced to close for a week," he complained.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
But “the most significant part of the volunteer departments is their working knowledge of the areas they live in. They know every corner. They know every face, every access point, every shortcut.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
“There’s no hate at all. It’s just what I stand for and what I stand in. I believe in God, and that’s me.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
“Very good. For now you truly understand the danger you are in. My master—a magician whose magic dwarfs your 100 percent—now possesses the Black Book!”
From "Amari and the Night Brothers" by B.B. Alston
Similar experimental systems have long been used to study how heat moves through slow moving materials, making them useful stand ins for the rocky interiors of planets.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 9, 2026
“If you don’t know the ins and outs and nuts and bolts inside City Hall, how are you going to be mayor?” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
"I don't know the ins and outs of it, or how realistic it is, but it would mean a lot to me."
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
One doesn’t need to follow the ins and outs of the latest research to gather that Americans’ reading habits aren’t what they used to be.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
With all the ins and outs, someone must have brushed against it, and the picture has twisted itself back around.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
They are likewise to carry home corn, which is not inned till August and September.
From A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol II. by Morton, Charles
The last landed, inned, or stowed, of any sort of merchandise: so called by the water-side porters, carmen, &c.
From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Grose, Francis
In 1622 Sir Henry Appleton, the owner of the marsh, agreed to give one-third of it to Joas Croppenburg, a Dutchman skilled in the making of dikes, if he "inned" the marsh.
From The Naturalist on the Thames by Cornish, C. J. (Charles John)
The tide really began to turn later in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
But just when it seemed he’d found a groove, he gave up a momentum-swinging solo home run to Philadelphia’s Brandon Marsh in the sixth inning of the Dodgers’ 10-7 loss to the Phillies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026
There was a fireworks show after the fourth inning, with kids riding bicycles onto the field a la “The Sandlot.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
Last month, he carried a perfect game into the eighth inning and no-hitter into the ninth against the Chicago White Sox.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026
There’s one out in the bottom of the last inning, and the game’s tied at five, but in my mind, we’ve already won the game and swept this doubleheader.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
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.
