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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. prep. Within the limits, bounds, or area of: was hit in the face; born in the spring; a chair in the garden.
  2. prep. From the outside to a point within; into: threw the letter in the wastebasket.
  3. prep. To or at a situation or condition of: was split in two; in debt; a woman in love.
  4. prep. Having the activity, occupation, or function of: a life in politics; the officer in command.
  5. prep. During the act or process of: tripped in racing for the bus.
  6. prep. With the arrangement or order of: fabric that fell in luxuriant folds; arranged to purchase the car in equal payments.
  7. prep. After the style or form of: a poem in iambic pentameter.
  8. prep. With the characteristic, attribute, or property of: a tall man in an overcoat.
  9. prep. By means of: paid in cash.
  10. prep. Made with or through the medium of: a statue in bronze; a note written in German.
  11. prep. With the aim or purpose of: followed in pursuit.
  12. prep. With reference to: six inches in depth; has faith in your judgment.
  13. prep. Used to indicate the second and larger term of a ratio or proportion: saved only one in ten.
  14. adv. To or toward the inside: opened the door and stepped in.
  15. adv. To or toward a destination or goal: The mob closed in.
  16. adv. Sports So as to score, as by crossing home plate in baseball: singled the runner in.
  17. adv. Within a place, as of business or residence: The manager is in before anyone else.
  18. adv. So as to be available or under one's control: We can proceed when all the evidence is in.
  19. adv. So as to include or incorporate: Fold in the egg whites.
  20. adv. So as to occupy a position of success or favor: campaigned hard and was voted in.
  21. adv. In a particular relationship: got in bad with their supervisor.
  22. adj. Located inside; inner.
  23. adj. Incoming; inward: took the in bus.
  24. adj. Holding office; having power: the in party.
  25. adj. Informal Currently fashionable: the in thing to wear this season.
  26. adj. Informal Concerned with or attuned to the latest fashions: the in crowd. See Synonyms at fashionable.
  27. adj. Relating to, understandable to, or coming from an exclusive group: an in reference.
  28. n. One that has position, influence, or power: the ins against the outs.
  29. n. Informal Influence; power: had an in with the authorities.
  30. idiom. in for Guaranteed to get or have: You're in for a big surprise.
  31. idiom. in on Informed about; participating in: Only one business partner was not in on the illegal scheme.
  32. idiom. in that For the reason that.
  33. abbr. inch.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. A word used to express the relation of presence, existence, situation, inclusion, action, etc., within limits, as of place, time, condition, circumstances, etc.
  2. Of place or situation: Within the bounds or limits of; within: as, in the house; in the city; to keep a subject in mind.
  3. Among; in the midst of.
  4. Of time: Of a point of time, or a period taken as a point: At.
  5. Of a course or period of time: Within the limits or duration of; during: as, in the present year; in two hours.
  6. Of a limit of time: At the expiration of: as, a note due in three months.
  7. Of action: Under process of; undergoing the process or running the course of: used especially before verbal nouns proper, or the same used participially.
  8. Of being: Within the power, capacity, or possession of: noting presence within as an inherent quality, distinguishing characteristic, or constituent element or part, or intimacy of relation: as, he has in him the making of a great man; it is not in her to desert him.
  9. Of state, condition, circumstance, or manner: In the condition, state, etc., of: as, in sickness and in health; painted in yellow; in arms (armed); in doubt; in very deed; paper in quires; grain in bulk; the party in power.
  10. Of range, purview, or use: With regard to; within the range of: as, in politics; in theology or philosophy; in botany, etc.
  11. Of number, amount, quantity, etc.: Within the body or whole of; existing or contained in: as, there are ten tens in a hundred; four quarts in a gallon; the good men in a community.
  12. To the amount of; for or to the payment of, absolutely or contingently: as, to amerce, bind, fine, or condemn in a thousand dollars.
  13. Of material, form, method, etc.: Of; made of; consisting of; with: as, a statue in bronze; a worker in metal; to paint in oils; a book written in Latin; a volume in leather or cloth; music in triple time.
  14. Of means or instruments: By means of; with; by; through.
  15. Of cause or occasion: From; because of; on account of; for the sake of: as, to rejoice in an ancient lineage; in the name of God.
  16. Of end: With respect to; as regards; concerning.
  17. Of proportion or partition: From among; out of: as, one in ten.
  18. Of motion or direction: Into: as, to break a thing in two; to put in operation.
  19. Of purpose, intent, or result: For; to; by way of: as, to act in self-defense; in conclusion.
  20. According to: as, in all likelihood.
  21. Occupied with.
  22. On; upon: as, in the whole; in guard: in various archaic uses now more commonly expressed by on.
  23. In law. See the extract.
  24. Having the top carriage run forward to the front end of the chassis: applied to heavy guns in the firing position.
  25. With the name only: said of the indorsement of a bill or note by merely writing one's name on it.
  26. Bound with boards. See board, 11.
  27. In or into some place, position, or state indicated by the context: an elliptical use of the preposition in: as, the master is not in (in the house, or at home); the ship is in (in port); come in (into the room, house, etc.); to keep one's temper in (in restraint, or within bounds).
  28. Inward; coming in, as to a place.
  29. Close; home.
  30. In law, in possession; in enjoyment; invested: used in expressing the nature or the mode of acquiring an estate, or the right upon which a seizin is founded: thus, a tenant is said to be in by the lease of his lessor (that is, his title or estate is derived from the lease).
  31. Nautical, furled or stowed: said of sails.
  32. In advance or in addition; beyond what was the case, was expected, or the like; to the good; thrown in: as, he found himself five dollars in.
  33. Into the bargain: as, ten cents a dozen and one thrown in.
  34. To be or keep on terms of friendship, familiarity, or intimacy with.
  35. n. A person in office; specifically, in politics, a member of the party in power.
  36. n. A nook or corner; used chiefly in the phrase ins and outs.
  37. n. Hence— All the details or intricacies of a matter: as, the ins and outs of a question.
  38. To get in; take or put in; house.
  39. A Latin preposition. cognate with English in. It occurs in many phrases more or less current in English use, as in loco parentis, in absentia, in esse, in posse, in statu quo, etc.
  40. n. An obsolete spelling of inn.
  41. n. In chem., the symbol for indium.
  42. n. An abbreviation of inch or inches.
  43. n. A prefix of Anglo-Saxon origin, being the preposition and adverb in so used. It is ultimately identical with in- of Latin origin; but the latter in English apprehension is often unmeaning, while in- always conveys the distinct sense of ‘in’ or ‘into,’ as in inborn, inbred, income, inland, inlet, inmate, inside, insight, insnare, inwrap, etc. In ingot, however, the prefix is unfelt, the word being no longer recognized as a compound. In consequence of its formal and original identity with in-, it may assume the same phases, becoming im- before a labial, as in impark, impen, imbitter, imbody, immesh, immingle, or varying to en-, as in encloud, enfetter, before a labial to em-, as in embed, embody, embitter, etc., the distinction being purely historical and depending on the origin, native or foreign of the primitive. In the etymologies of this dictionary it depends on the origin of the primitive whether the prefix in-, meaning ‘in,’ is marked in- or in-.
  44. n. A prefix of Latin origin, being the Latin preposition in so used. It is ultimately identical with in- of English origin, having the same literal sense; but it is often merely intensive, and in many words has in modern apprehension no assignable force. Before a labial in- in later Latin, and hence in Romance, English, etc., becomes im-, as in imbibe, imperil, immanent, etc.; before l it becomes il-, as in illation, illude, illumine, etc.; before r it becomes ir-, as in irradiate, irrigate, etc. In many words derived in fact or form through the French, in- interchanges with or has displaced the earlier English and French en-, the tendency being to use in- whenever there is a corresponding Latin form in in-, as in inclose or enclose, inquire or enquire, etc. See in-, en-, en-. This prefix occurs unfelt, with the accent, as en- in envy.
  45. n. A prefix of Latin origin, having a negative or privative force, ‘not, -less, without.’ It is cognate with the English prefix un-, with which it may interchange in English formations: but the rule is to use in- with an obvious Latin primitive and un- with a native or thoroughly naturalized primitive, as in inanimate, incredulous, inaccessible, inequality, as against unliving, unbelieving, unapproachable, unequal, etc. The two forms coexist in inedited, unedited, incautious, uncautious, etc. This prefix in- assumes the same phonetic phases as in-, in-, as in impartial, immense, immeasurable, illiterate, irregular, etc.; it is reduced to i- in ignore, ignorant, etc. It occurs unfelt, with the accent, in enemy, enmity.
  46. n. A suffix of Latin (or Greek) origin forming, in Latin, adjectives, and nouns thence derived, from nouns, many of which formations have come into or are imitated in modern Latin and English. The proper English spelling, when the vowel is short, is -in, which was formerly in use, alongside of -ine, in all cases, as in genuin, feminin, etc.; but in present spelling -ine prevails, whether the vowel is short, as in genuine, feminine, masculine, etc., or long as in canine, divine, equine, etc. The form -in occurs in a few words, especially old contracted forms, as matin, a., matins, coffin, cousin, pilgrim (for *pilgrin), alongside of -ine, as in lupin, lupine. In proper names -ine is found, as in Augustine, Collatine, but regularly -in, as iu Augustin, Austin, Calvin, Crispin, Justin, etc.
  47. n. A suffix of Latin origin occurring, unfelt in English, in nouns formed as nouns in Latin, as in ravin or raven (doublet rapine), ruin, discipline, doctrine, medicine, etc. It occurs also in its Latin form -ina (which see), and is ultimately identical with -in, -ine.
  48. n. A suffix of Latin or Greek origin, ultimately identical with the fem. of the preceding (-in, -ine), occurring as a feminine formative in heroine.
  49. n. The same suffix used in a special manner in chemical and mineralogical nomenclature, forming names of some of the elements, as in bromine, chlorin, etc., but usually derivatives, as in glycerin, acetin, etc. In spelling usage wavers between -in and -ine. In this dictionary. in accordance with the proper pronunciation, and with the best recent usage in chemistry, the form -in is generally used in preference to -ine when both forms are in use. In chemistry a certain distinction of use is attempted, basic substances having the termination -ine rather than -in, as aconitine, aniline, etc., and -in being restricted to certain neutral compounds, glycerides, glucosides, and proteids, as albumin, palmitin, etc.; but this distinction is not observed in all cases. In names of minerals -ine is generally used. From its chemical use the suffix has come to be much used in the formation of tradenames, more or less absurd, of proprietary “remedies,” “cures,” soaps, powders, etc.
  50. A simplified spelling of inn.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Inch.
  2. prep. Contained by.
  3. prep. Surrounded by.
  4. prep. Part of; a member of.
  5. prep. Pertaining to (that particular thing).
  6. prep. Immediately after a period of time.
  7. prep. Within a certain time constraint
  8. prep. By virtue of; by means of
  9. prep. Indicating an order or arrangement.
  10. prep. Into.
  11. prep. During (said of periods of time)
  12. prep. Denoting a state of the subject.
  13. prep. Indicates a language, script, tone, etc. of a text, speech, etc.
  14. prep. Indicates a language, script, tone, etc. of writing, speaking, etc.
  15. prep. Indicates, connotatively, a place-like form of someone's (or something's) personality, as his, her or its psychic and physical characteristics
  16. v. obsolete, transitive To enclose; to take in; to harvest.
  17. adv. not comparable Located indoors, especially: at home or the office .
  18. adv. Moving to the interior of a defined space, such as a building or room.
  19. adv. sports Still eligible to play, e.g. able to bat in cricket and baseball.
  20. adv. UK abbreviation of in aid of.
  21. adv. After the beginning of something.
  22. n. A position of power or a way to get it.
  23. n. in games The state of a batter/batsman who is currently batting
  24. adj. In fashion; popular.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. prep. The specific signification of in is situation or place with respect to surrounding, environment, encompassment, etc. It is used with verbs signifying being, resting, or moving within limits, or within circumstances or conditions of any kind conceived of as limiting, confining, or investing, either wholly or in part. In its different applications, it approaches some of the meanings of, and sometimes is interchangeable with, within, into, on, at, of, and among.
  2. prep. With reference to space or place
  3. prep. With reference to circumstances or conditions
  4. prep. With reference to a whole which includes or comprises the part spoken of
  5. prep. With reference to physical surrounding, personal states, etc., abstractly denoted
  6. prep. With reference to character, reach, scope, or influence considered as establishing a limitation.
  7. prep. With reference to movement or tendency toward a certain limit or environment; -- sometimes equivalent to into
  8. prep. With reference to a limit of time
  9. adv. Not out; within; inside. In, the preposition, becomes an adverb by omission of its object, leaving it as the representative of an adverbial phrase, the context indicating what the omitted object is.
  10. adv. (Law) With privilege or possession; -- used to denote a holding, possession, or seisin
  11. n. One who is in office; -- the opposite of out.
  12. n. A reëntrant angle; a nook or corner.
  13. v. obsolete To inclose; to take in; to harvest.

WordNet 3.0

  1. adj. holding office
  2. n. a state in midwestern United States
  3. adv. to or toward the inside of
  4. adj. directed or bound inward
  5. n. a rare soft silvery metallic element; occurs in small quantities in sphalerite
  6. n. a unit of length equal to one twelfth of a foot
  7. adj. currently fashionable

Etymologies

  1. Old English inne (Wiktionary)
  2. Middle English, from Old English; see en in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

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‘in’ has been looked up 19338 times, loved by 7 people, added to 51 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 2.