- in
- I POSITION OR MOVEMENT
♦(The preposition is pronounced [[t]ɪn[/t]]. The adverb is pronounced [[t]ɪ̱n[/t]].)1) PREP Someone or something that is in something else is enclosed by it or surrounded by it. If you put something in a container, you move it so that it is enclosed by the container.
He was in his car.
...clothes hanging in the wardrobe...
Put the knives in the kitchen drawer...
Mix the sugar and the water in a cup.
2) PREP If something happens in a place, it happens there....spending a few days in a hotel...
He had intended to take a holiday in America...
Those rockets landed in the desert.
3) ADV: be ADV If you are in, you are present at your home or place of work.My flatmate was in at the time...
He has had to be in every day.
Ant:4) ADV: ADV after v When someone comes in, they enter a room or building.She looked up anxiously as he came in...
They shook hands and went in.
5) ADV: ADV after v, be ADV If a train, boat, or plane has come in or is in, it has arrived at a station, port, or airport.We'd be watching every plane coming in from Melbourne...
Look. The train's in. We'll have to run for it now.
6) ADV: ADV after v, be ADV When the sea or tide comes in, the sea moves towards the shore rather than away from it.She thought of the tide rushing in, covering the wet sand...
If the tide was in they went swimming.
Ant:7) PREP Something that is in a window, especially a shop window, is just behind the window so that you can see it from outside.The light in the window went out...
There was a camera for sale in the window.
8) PREP When you see something in a mirror, the mirror shows an image of it.I couldn't bear to see my reflection in the mirror...
He caught sight of his hair in a mirror.
9) PREP: oft -ed PREP n If you are dressed in a piece of clothing, you are wearing it.He was a big man, smartly dressed in a suit and tie.
...three women in black.
10) PREP: oft -ed PREP n Something that is covered or wrapped in something else has that thing over or round its surface.His legs were covered in mud.
...carrots wrapped in newspaper.
11) PREP If there is something such as a crack or hole in something, there is a crack or hole on its surface.There was a deep crack in the ceiling above him.
II [[t]ɪn[/t]] INCLUSION OR INVOLVEMENT...an unsightly hole in the garden.
♦1) PREP If something is in a book, film, play, or picture, you can read it or see it there.Don't stick too precisely to what it says in the book.
...one of the funniest scenes in the film.
2) PREP If you are in something such as a play or a race, you are one of the people taking part.Alf offered her a part in the play he was directing...
The Princess had been invited to ride in a charity race...
More than fifteen thousand people took part in the memorial service.
3) PREP Something that is in a group or collection is a member of it or part of it.The New England team are the worst in the league.
...the most spectacular painting in the collection.
4) PREP You use in to specify a general subject or field of activity....those working in the defence industry.
III [[t]ɪn[/t]] TIME AND NUMBERS...future developments in medicine and surgery.
♦1) PREP If something happens in a particular year, month, or other period of time, it happens during that time....that early spring day in April 1949...
Export orders improved in the last month...
In the evening, the people assemble in the mosques...
He believes food prices will go up in the future.
2) PREP If something happens in a particular situation, it happens while that situation is going on.His father had been badly wounded in the last war.
...issues you struggle with in your daily life.
3) PREP: PREP amount If you do something in a particular period of time, that is how long it takes you to do it.He walked two hundred and sixty miles in eight days.
4) PREP: PREP amount If something will happen in a particular length of time, it will happen after that length of time.I'll have some breakfast ready in a few minutes...
They'll be back in a few months.
5) PREP: PREP poss pl-num You use in to indicate roughly how old someone is. For example, if someone is in their fifties, they are between 50 and 59 years old....young people in their twenties.
...Molly, a tall woman in her early sixties.
6) PREP: oft PREP num You use in to indicate roughly how many people or things do something....men who came there in droves...
The children were assembled in hundreds...
The jugs were produced in their millions.
7) PREP: num PREP num You use in to express a ratio, proportion, or probability.Last year, one in five boys left school without a qualification...
IV [[t]ɪn[/t]] STATES AND QUALITIESHe was told that he had a one in 500 chance of survival.
♦1) PREP: v-link PREP n If something or someone is in a particular state or situation, that is their present state or situation.The economy was in trouble...
Dave was in a hurry to get back to work...
Their equipment was in poor condition...
One of their men was in danger.
2) PREP You use in to indicate the feeling or desire which someone has when they do something, or which causes them to do it.Simpson looked at them in surprise...
Chris wept, crying freely in anger and grief...
Carl pushed ahead in his eagerness to reach the wall.
3) PREP: oft PREP pron to-inf If a particular quality or ability is in you, you naturally have it.Violence is not in his nature...
I couldn't find it in me to embrace him.
4) PREP You use in when saying that someone or something has a particular quality.He had all the qualities I was looking for in a partner...
`I don't agree,' she said, surprised at the strength in her own voice...
There is artistry in what he does.
5) PREP You use in to indicate how someone is expressing something.Information is given to the patient verbally and in writing.
...lessons in languages other than Spanish.
...trying to speak in a casual voice.
...written in a simple but very expressive style.
6) PREP You use in in expressions such as in a row or in a ball to describe the arrangement or shape of something.The cards need to be laid out in two rows...
Her ear, shoulder and hip are in a straight line...
He was curled up in a ball.
7) PREP: oft -ed PREP colour If something is in a particular colour, it has that colour....white flowers edged in pink...
He saw something written in black on the gravestones.
8) PREP You use in to specify which feature or aspect of something you are talking about.The movie is nearly two hours in length...
The oil is green in colour...
There is a big difference in the amounts that banks charge.
...a real increase in the standard of living...
V OTHER USES AND PHRASESThe officers were rather slovenly in their methods.
♦ins(Pronounced [[t]ɪ̱n[/t]] for meanings 1 and 3 to 7, and [[t]ɪn[/t]] for meaning 2.)1) ADJ If you say that something is in, or is the in thing, you mean it is fashionable or popular. [INFORMAL]A few years ago jogging was the in thing...
It is the `in' place to go for a quick drink after work.
2) PREP: PREP -ing You use in with a present participle to indicate that when you do something, something else happens as a result.He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. In doing so he knocked over Steven's briefcase.
3) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If you say that someone is in for a shock or a surprise, you mean that they are going to experience it.You might be in for a shock at the sheer hard work involved...
When you venture outside, you are in for a surprise.
4) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n If someone has it in for you, they dislike you and try to cause problems for you. [INFORMAL]The other kids had it in for me.
5) PHR-PREP: v-link PREP n, v n PREP n If you are in on something, you are involved in it or know about it.I don't know. I wasn't in on that particular argument...
I'm going to let you in on a little secret.
6) PHRASE: PHR n If you are in with a person or group, they like you and accept you, and are likely to help you. [INFORMAL]7) PHR-CONJ-SUBORD You use in that to introduce an explanation of a statement you have just made.I'm lucky in that I've got four sisters.
8) PHRASE: usu the PHR of n/-ing The ins and outs of a situation are all the detailed points and facts about it....the ins and outs of high finance...
Dietary experts can advise on the ins and outs of dieting.
English dictionary. 2008.
