take-in
noun
a deception, fraud, or imposition.
take-in
American
[teyk-in]
/ ˈteɪkˌɪn /
noun
Informal.
take in
British
verb
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to comprehend or understand
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to include or comprise
his thesis takes in that point
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to receive into one's house in exchange for payment
to take in washing
take in lodgers
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to make (an article of clothing, etc) smaller by altering seams
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to include
the tour takes in the islands as well as the mainland
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informal to cheat or deceive
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to go to; visit
let's take in a movie tonight
noun
take in
Idioms
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Admit, receive as a guest or employee, as in They offered to take in two of the orphaned children . [First half of 1500s]
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Reduce in size, make smaller or shorter, as in I've lost some weight so I'll have to take in my clothes . [Early 1500s]
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Include or constitute, as in This list takes in all the members, past and present . [Mid-1600s]
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Understand, as in I couldn't take in all that French dialogue in the movie . [Second half of 1600s]
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Deceive, swindle, as in That alleged fundraiser took me in completely . [First half of 1700s]
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Look at thoroughly, as in We want to take in all the sights . [First half of 1700s]
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Accept work to be done at home, as in His grandmother took in washing to support her children . [First half of 1800s]
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Receive as proceeds, as in We had a good audience; how much did we take in? [Late 1800s] Also see the following entries beginning with take in .
Etymology
Origin of take-in
First recorded in 1770–80; noun use of verb phrase take in
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:
Sunday is also a day I get to enjoy take-in from my favorite restaurants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 21, 2024
Almost always, she said, there is a predictable sequence in which people take-in an eclipse: it begins with a sense of wrongness and primal fear, followed by a feeling of connectedness and insignificance.
From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2024
If the people of Standing Rock did not take-in their beloved family and friends, there would be mass homelessness.
From The Guardian ● Feb. 23, 2017
Bordeaux’s Musée des Beaux Arts is also a great take-in for a mere four Euros to enter.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 28, 2015
They were on the other side of the river and there they briefly stopped to take-in the beauty of their surroundings.
From Scorched Earth by Walter D. Petrovic
“When somebody takes different choices than we take in terms of weight and comfort, we get to learn from that and see how people respond to it,” Bosworth said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
Marie Raturat Bouny, 34, and her daughter Noa, 6, take in the ruins of their house in Le Porge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2026
They described being unable to take in even the most effusive messages from their audience – the types of affirmations that had initially pushed them to begin creating in the first place.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
Around 13,700 homes were inside the evacuation area, local emergency services said, with two shelters set up to take in displaced residents.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
A white union leader gushed that organizers “do nothing but take in applications from morning to midnight.”
From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield
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.
