into

[ in-too; unstressed in-too, -tuh ]

preposition

1. to the inside of; in toward:

   He walked into the room. The train chugged into the station.

2. toward or in the direction of:

   going into town.

3. to a point of contact with; against:

   backed into a parked car.

4. (used to indicate insertion or immersion in):

   plugged into the socket.

5. (used to indicate entry, inclusion, or introduction in a place or condition):

   received into the church.

6. to the state, condition, or form assumed or brought about:

   went into shock; lapsed into disrepair; translated into another language.

7. to the occupation, action, possession, circumstance, or acceptance of:

   went into banking; coerced into complying.

8. (used to indicate a continuing extent in time or space):

   lasted into the night; far into the distance.

9. (used to indicate the number to be divided by another number):

   2 into 20 equals 10.

10. Informal. interested or absorbed in, especially obsessively:

    She's into yoga and gardening.

11. Slang. in debt to:

    I'm into him for ten dollars.

adjective

1. Mathematics. pertaining to a function or map from one set to another set, the range of which is a proper subset of the second set, as the function f, from the set of all integers into the set of all perfect squares where f ( x ) = x 2 for every integer.

into

/ ˈɪntuː; ˈɪntə /

preposition

1. to the interior or inner parts of

   to look into a case

2. to the middle or midst of so as to be surrounded by

   into the bushes

   into the water

3. against; up against

   he drove into a wall

4. used to indicate the result of a transformation or change

   he changed into a monster

5. maths used to indicate a dividend

   three into six is two

6. informal.
   interested or enthusiastically involved in

   I'm really into Freud these days

Word History and Origins

Origin of into¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English, Old English; in + to

Idioms and Phrases

• be into

Example Sentences

Early-decision and early-action programs are used by many of the most popular and toughest-to-get-into colleges in the country.

From The Daily Beast

At times like these you must be careful not to brim over with elation-into-crashing-despair.

From The Daily Beast

It presents itself to us as an effective corroboration of the so well-known phenomenon of talking-yourself-into-it.

From Project Gutenberg

Breton peasants are represented playing on Breton pipes in the Entry-into-Jerusalem scene.

From Project Gutenberg

"I w-w-was b-b-b-blown i-i-i-into t-t-t-the air," he replied, smiling sweetly.

From Project Gutenberg

No sooner had they disappeared than Siegfried came into-393- the wood, armed for the hunt.

From Project Gutenberg

Bess went to put on her bonnet, and when she camc into-the parlour George backed into the fireplace with astonishment.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• in the direction of