see into

British

verb

to examine or investigate
to discover the true nature of

I can't see into your thoughts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

see into Idioms

Investigate; see look into .
Understand the true character or nature of, as in Mother could see into Mary very well and knew exactly what she was up to . Shakespeare used this idiom in 2 Henry VI (3:1): “Well hath your Highness seen into this duke.”

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.

New research from neuroscientists at Trinity College Dublin shows that babies as young as two months old can already organize what they see into distinct object categories.

From Science Daily • Feb. 5, 2026

Coming down the 11th hole it is possible to see into the neighbouring Augusta Country Club course.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2025

I think it was hubris, essentially: Now we have this cutting-edge equipment and we can see into the future.

From Salon • Feb. 1, 2025

“Our whole goal was to be able to let people see into the daily lives of nature, so that they could really appreciate what happens and fall in love with nature,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 28, 2024

At times, it seemed almost as if she could see into a code maker's mind.

From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023